“March 2021: The Museum of Food and Drink stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. The murders of 8 people in Georgia, 6 of Asian descent, are only the most recent in the country’s long and painful history with racism and hate. It is our shared history, and we all have a responsibility to acknowledge it and to work toward a just and equitable nation for all Americans.

The violent hate crimes perpetrated against Asian Americans over the last year are part of a long history of racist anti-Asian sentiment in this country. In 1882, for the first time in its history, the US passed a law curtailing immigration based solely on ethnicity: The Chinese Exclusion Act. Over the course of the next 60 years, these racist laws were expanded to exclude other people from across East Asia and the Pacific Islands. The proliferation of Chinese American restaurants throughout the US (over 40,000 strong before the pandemic) was born out of a legal loophole that added restaurants to the list of businesses for which entrepreneurs were eligible to receive a special merchant visa.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen both economic devastation and increased discrimination, hate crimes, and xenophobia faced by Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities throughout the country. AAPI-owned businesses are overrepresented in sectors that have been hit hardest by COVID-19, particularly in the food and hospitality sectors. AAPI workers disproportionately hold high-contact essential jobs such as delivery people, cooks, and grocery store employees, placing them at increased health risk.

At MOFAD, we will continue to navigate the intersection of food and politics in our exhibitions and public programming. We remain committed to amplifying the voices of AAPI culinarians, past and present. We encourage all communities to condemn racism and racial violence. Join us in supporting AAPI-owned businesses and restaurants.

In community,
The MOFAD Team”