Post-Gazette: "Pandemic and aggression toward Asian Americans highlights Pittsburgh’s lack of centralized AAPI community."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes on Pittsburgh's figurative and literal AAPI communities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and increased hostility toward Asians and Asian-Americans.

Pittsburgh’s Asian American community, which lacks the numbers seen in cities such as New York City and San Francisco, has found the angry sentiments difficult to process.

Without a place to gather or a stable network, the Pittsburgh Asian American community cannot come together and heal the same as other communities, said Caroline Yoo, of Los Angeles, a a master’s degree candidate at Carnegie Mellon University.

“In L.A., even though there’s that type of racism, you have community. Whereas in Pittsburgh, even though there is a community, it feels just a little bit quieter,’’ Ms. Yoo said.

“It’s only my first year here. In my experiences, there isn’t this huge hub of just Asian celebration anywhere, and I think because of that lack of celebration and the lack of visibility, in ways all the little micro-aggressions build. And you end up just swallowing it up and repressing rather than releasing it, crying for help from your other members of the community.”