Young, Proud, and Sung-jee: A Children’s Book on Fighting Anti-Asian Racism during COVID-19

In response to the rise in anti-Asian sentiment in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese-American social workers Joyce Y. Lee, Emily Ku, and Maggie Chen created the children’s book Young, Proud, and Sung-jee: A Children’s Book on Fighting Anti-Asian Racism during COVID-19, which they describe as “a resource to help generate meaningful discussions between adults and children about anti-Asian racism” (i). The narrator of the book is a Korean American girl named Sung-jee, and the book documents her experiencing racism at school when a classmate claims “this is your (Sung-jee’s) fault” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 4) for school closures due to COVID-19. This fictional scenario illustrates how anti-Asian racism manifests in settings that are applicable to children’s lives, the rationale behind it, and its connection to COVID-19, which her father further explains as “Some are even angry because they believe that Asians have caused the virus and are spreading it” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 6). For children encountering racism for the first time, explanations for the treatment they are receiving can help alleviate their self-blame and confusion.

The responses of Sung-jee’s family members towards her experience with her racist classmate demonstrate concrete strategies that parents or people who work with children can utilize, such as the “Acknowledge, Validate, Reframe” framework, to counsel children experiencing anti-Asian racism. Sung-jee’s mother tells her, “Your friends may blame you for spreading the virus because of the way you look. This is called racism” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 7), acknowledging that Sung-jee has experienced racism and its unfairness, as one’s appearance is uncontrollable. “Their actions and words really hurt” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 7), she says, validating Sung-jee’s emotions for being shamed for her race, and presents racism as a serious issue that adversely impacts children’s mental health. Sung-jee’s grandmother adds, “COVID-19 is not your fault” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 9), reframing Sung-jee’s experience as a case of unfair treatment to prevent her from internalizing blame towards herself because of her race, with regards to COVID-19 and racism resulting from the pandemic.

The book also empowers child readers to defend Asian American children experiencing racism. It includes a scene where Sung-jee stops other children from bullying Jingyi, a Chinese girl, for spreading the virus by saying, “To say that Asians spread the virus is unfair, unkind, and disrespectful” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 12). After resolving the situation, Sung-jee comforts Jingyi with “What’s happening isn’t your fault. What they did was very hurtful” (Lee, Ku, and Chen 13), validating Jingyi’s feelings and preventing her from self-blaming in line with the framework. The scene serves as a guide for Asian American children to intervene in racist bullying and support their peers affected by racism.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, this book shifts from the universal threat from the virus towards human health to the issue of racism exacerbated by harmful narratives of COVID-19 transmission, which affects Asians and Asian Americans disproportionately. It demonstrates that narratives that attempt to draw connections between certain racial groups and the virus can be perpetuated by young children and can hurt and ostracize Asian and Asian American children from their social groups. Through this book, the authors break down the complex social issue of anti-Asian racism into its causes, forms, and solutions illustrated by Sung-jee’s authentic example, so that children can easily understand and apply these lessons to their daily lives. They also provide strategies to guide parents, caretakers, and children in undoing the harmful effects of racism on other members of their community and educating them on counter-narratives that emphasize the precarity of all people, regardless of race, in the face of COVID-19.