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June 9, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
On a warm April afternoon in Washington Square Park, I squared off with my friend Noelle, a petite Filipino policy researcher, and shoved her. She slapped the ground as she fell, landing seat-first with a dull thud. Dazed yet grinning, she braced both hands on the ground behind her, lifted her leg, angled her foot and kicked me in the shin. Then she got up, brushed herself off and let me do the same.
This sparring match was part of a private self-defense class I organized for my Asian friends in New York. Reports of vicious attacks on Asians, especially women and older adults, had filled my news feeds since February, when the media began coveringanti-Asian hate incidents that rose during the pandemic.