In the last couple years, a new American villain has arrived on the scene: the Karen. Karen has learned how to leverage her white femininity against Black and Latinx folks. But as Asian American women, do we encounter Karens? And more worrisome, have we come to resemble her?

Many of us believe that empathy is the only thing that will heal our national divisions. But in Trump’s America, who is entitled to empathy, who isn’t, and why? I wonder, too, how white entitlement to empathy plays out in DEI efforts at predominantly white institutions.

What does it mean to be a South Asian American in equity and justice work? Are we even “real minorities”? Or are we minor frauds?

We talk a lot about white folks and whiteness. Less often do we discuss the more awkward question of white-passing and white-adjacent people of color who partake in anti-Black attitudes and behaviors as a means of gaining white acceptance. What is to be done?

K-12 schools understand the importance of student affinity and interest groups. In addition to supporting marginalized students, they ensure a healthy school climate. But how do we train students leaders in a way that allows them to connect their work to the longer tradition of struggle and liberation in this country? This piece offers a lesson plan to educators looking to fortify marginalized student leaders and help them understand their historic role in a no less historic time.

A chance meeting with a white nationalist last year showed me something ugly was brewing in this country, and it was comfortable out in the open. What is the emotional architecture for those of us on the receiving end of a microaggression? How do we teach the next generation about the psychology of hate, and the toll it takes on all of us?