Vichar Ratanapakdee, 84, died after a senseless attack while walking through his neighborhood. Noel Quintana, 61, was slashed in the face with a box cutter when he boarded the L train at Jefferson Station in Brooklyn, New York. Eight people were killed in a shooting rampage across three Asian spas in one night.

All are examples of recent violent attacks on Asian Americans and the rise in hate and violence against Asian communities in America.

Why has the problem re-emerged, and how can it be addressed? Sanga Song wants an answer to this question.

Song, an assistant professor of marketing for the School of Business and Economics at Indiana University East, is seeking solutions after receiving a grant for nearly $15,000 from the Racial Justice Research Fund as lead investigator for a multidisciplinary project that began in November 2020.Indiana University announced the creation of the Racial Justice Research Fund in June 2020 to provide 25 grants each year of up to $15,000 as startup support for faculty members who are researching racial equality and justice.

Song’s project focuses on social media and anti-Asian content collaborating with various experts, including those in business, communication, computer science, and engineering. She and her researchers expect to conduct interviews and experiments with 400 subjects and then present results at conferences and journals next year.

“The funding will allow our research team to identify racially charged social media content and develop possible intervention strategies to minimize the harmful effects of such divisive conversations,” Song says.

She adds that the grant “will also allow me to continue to pursue my long-term goal of advancing interdisciplinary research on equality, diversity, and inclusion."