Hatred, Violence Against Asians Also Spreading in Community
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community speaks out about an increase in pandemic-related hate crimes.
By Selena Ganguly
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community speaks out about an increase in pandemic-related hate crimes.
By Selena Ganguly
There has been an overwhelmingly increasing amount of hate crimes and incidents happening worldwide as more cases of Asians and Pacific Islanders are being assaulted or killed, possibly motivated by racism and anger about COVID-19.
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community has joined together to create movements and organizations like Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate and Protect Asian Lives as a response to bring awareness about the rise of prejudice, discrimination and xenophobia faced towards the communities during this pandemic.
This movement has initially sparked recognition from videos surfacing online of elderly attacks on AAPI victims targeted on their vulnerability and race. AP psychology and history teacher Lillian Luu has seen these videos herself and worried if it will happen to her family members as attacks have been recorded in the Bay Area.
“I have seen the videos of the attack on elders and I worry about my dad who lives alone and is in his 60s going out by himself if he would be attacked like in those situations,” Luu said. “We set up security cameras around the house so that definitely increased my worry about the people I care about.”
The model minority myth is the idea and stereotype that Asian Americans are the hardworking minority claimed by sociologist William Petersen in The New York Times article, “Success Story, Japanese-American Style” in 1966, published after the National Immigration Act in 1965. While the myth sounds like it has positive connotations and could be interpreted as a compliment, Asian Americans have realized their own hardships and struggles are often dismissed since it was originally created to perpetuate anti-Black views on Black people during the civil rights movement. Due to this, it causes the division between BIPOC communities by telling other minorities they’re not on the same socioeconomic status as Asian Americans who are viewed as “law-abiding citizens.”
This myth however, does not prevent them from discrimination as seen in a recent national report from the organization Stop AAPI Hate. They have recorded 3,795 hate incidents from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021. Of that total, California ranked number one with the highest number of hate incidents of 1,691 cases reported making up around 45% alone. Below is New York with 517 cases making up around 14% of the total incidents recorded. Crystal Le, 12, felt like her and other Asian American’s experiences were often overlooked because of this idea and she hopes people will try to actively start unlearning it.
“A lot of people think that because of the model minority myth it is harder to understand the prejudice that Asian Americans face. It doesn't feel great that now more cases are being revealed that people can suddenly understand the racism we face is more than surface level,” Le said. “I know personally and for a lot of other Asian Americans, people are often defensive and invalidate the experiences of Asians facing discrimination because of this myth. I think the best way (to unlearn) is to be aware and just listen to Asian American experiences. We’re more than our careers and education and that we can face discrimination regardless of how much we make.”
The fueled hatred of anti-AAPI rhetoric has been created by people of authority who’ve misused their power and platform, the most notable one being former president, Donald Trump calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” and “kung-flu.” These racially insensitive comments have been so normalized as jokes that Tiana Tran, 11, has seen people be influenced by them to the point they don’t take the movement seriously.
“They are invalidating a whole group’s experiences and struggles of their own when they try to brush their racially insensitive comment as a joke. They are making it so that it is okay to be racist, which influences the people around them. It is not ‘okay’ and not a ‘joke’ as it has led to hate crimes and violence towards Asians,” Tran said. “On a post about a Protect Asian Lives protest a person commented, ‘Asians are too easy of a target.’ These are no longer jokes or even jokes, to begin with.”
Chloe Gallimore, 12, identifies as an Asian American but she feels she is less of a likely target for anti-AAPI hate since she does not look like the stereotypical idea of an Asian person. A common racist stereotype that all Asians have East Asian facial features and fair skin tones.
“As a Southeast Asian, I don’t look like your ‘typical’ Asian and I feel like I have the privilege to not be as affected by the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes,” Gallimore said. “I first recognized that I am privileged when I sat back and realized that I have never experienced a hate crime firsthand. People should recognize that they’re privileged by noticing the advantages they have compared to other people.”
With the movement bringing up awareness about the anti-AAPI hate crimes and incidents that have been happening this past year, AAPI members of the community feel that this movement should also start as a discussion for various topics like how the AAPI community has been affected from accessible resources and support to media representations of AAPI.
“We should talk more about the lack of support within the AAPI community in mental health, the LGBTQ+ community and representation in the media. I believe that we can improve on accepting LGBTQ+ AAPI and mental illnesses in and outside of the community,” Tran said. “I also mentioned representation in the media. Though we had a big breakthrough with ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ we still have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to displaying more diverse AAPI characters like a person that is not cisgender, straight or neurotypical. These people do exist in this world, so why can’t they be represented in the media? Without representation (starting) as children, we can’t easily see the beauty in being Asian.”
California State Assembly member Evan Low, a Democrat who grew up in San Jose and attended Leland High School, has been holding rallies the past few weeks around the Bay Area to bring awareness about anti-AAPI hate while also using his role as state legislator to support the AAPI community. He hopes the discussion of anti-AAPI hate goes far beyond marches and creates change to society to similar movements in the past relating to equality and justice.
“In February, I introduced HR 23 to condemn these hate crimes and I was deeply moved to have 67 co-authors, including all of California Legislative Diversity Caucuses. That tells me we have allies on both sides of the aisle — regardless of a legislator’s identity or political party — and we will be taking decisive action in the Legislature. In the meantime, my focus will always be raising awareness and making sure AAPI voices are heard,” Low said. “We’ve seen the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have enormous success in changing the discussions around sexual harassment, violence and racism and even the language we use. But that doesn’t mean we march for a day or two and everything is solved. We have to be relentless in the way we engage on the issue of hate crimes and how they are linked to fear, insecurity and a lack of compassion and empathy.”
There are numerous ways to help support the AAPI community, Luu listed a few places for allies of where their activism should begin.
“Start with educating yourself. There’s a lot of books, articles and resources about AAPI history in the United States. It starts with one-self to understand why within our history in terms of the anti-Asian sentiments how it has changed over the course of years. Also, reach out and find organizations like #HATEISAVIRUS or Stop AAPI Hate or advocate for AAPI justice,” Luu said. “We all want to be treated as humans, as the saying goes, ‘treat others how you want to be treated.’ Lend your voice if you have the privilege.”
The Asian American and Pacific Islander community has joined together to create movements and organizations like Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate and Protect Asian Lives as a response to bring awareness about the rise of prejudice, discrimination and xenophobia faced towards the communities during this pandemic.
This movement has initially sparked recognition from videos surfacing online of elderly attacks on AAPI victims targeted on their vulnerability and race. AP psychology and history teacher Lillian Luu has seen these videos herself and worried if it will happen to her family members as attacks have been recorded in the Bay Area.
“I have seen the videos of the attack on elders and I worry about my dad who lives alone and is in his 60s going out by himself if he would be attacked like in those situations,” Luu said. “We set up security cameras around the house so that definitely increased my worry about the people I care about.”
The model minority myth is the idea and stereotype that Asian Americans are the hardworking minority claimed by sociologist William Petersen in The New York Times article, “Success Story, Japanese-American Style” in 1966, published after the National Immigration Act in 1965. While the myth sounds like it has positive connotations and could be interpreted as a compliment, Asian Americans have realized their own hardships and struggles are often dismissed since it was originally created to perpetuate anti-Black views on Black people during the civil rights movement. Due to this, it causes the division between BIPOC communities by telling other minorities they’re not on the same socioeconomic status as Asian Americans who are viewed as “law-abiding citizens.”
This myth however, does not prevent them from discrimination as seen in a recent national report from the organization Stop AAPI Hate. They have recorded 3,795 hate incidents from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2021. Of that total, California ranked number one with the highest number of hate incidents of 1,691 cases reported making up around 45% alone. Below is New York with 517 cases making up around 14% of the total incidents recorded. Crystal Le, 12, felt like her and other Asian American’s experiences were often overlooked because of this idea and she hopes people will try to actively start unlearning it.
“A lot of people think that because of the model minority myth it is harder to understand the prejudice that Asian Americans face. It doesn't feel great that now more cases are being revealed that people can suddenly understand the racism we face is more than surface level,” Le said. “I know personally and for a lot of other Asian Americans, people are often defensive and invalidate the experiences of Asians facing discrimination because of this myth. I think the best way (to unlearn) is to be aware and just listen to Asian American experiences. We’re more than our careers and education and that we can face discrimination regardless of how much we make.”
The fueled hatred of anti-AAPI rhetoric has been created by people of authority who’ve misused their power and platform, the most notable one being former president, Donald Trump calling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” and “kung-flu.” These racially insensitive comments have been so normalized as jokes that Tiana Tran, 11, has seen people be influenced by them to the point they don’t take the movement seriously.
“They are invalidating a whole group’s experiences and struggles of their own when they try to brush their racially insensitive comment as a joke. They are making it so that it is okay to be racist, which influences the people around them. It is not ‘okay’ and not a ‘joke’ as it has led to hate crimes and violence towards Asians,” Tran said. “On a post about a Protect Asian Lives protest a person commented, ‘Asians are too easy of a target.’ These are no longer jokes or even jokes, to begin with.”
Chloe Gallimore, 12, identifies as an Asian American but she feels she is less of a likely target for anti-AAPI hate since she does not look like the stereotypical idea of an Asian person. A common racist stereotype that all Asians have East Asian facial features and fair skin tones.
“As a Southeast Asian, I don’t look like your ‘typical’ Asian and I feel like I have the privilege to not be as affected by the recent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes,” Gallimore said. “I first recognized that I am privileged when I sat back and realized that I have never experienced a hate crime firsthand. People should recognize that they’re privileged by noticing the advantages they have compared to other people.”
With the movement bringing up awareness about the anti-AAPI hate crimes and incidents that have been happening this past year, AAPI members of the community feel that this movement should also start as a discussion for various topics like how the AAPI community has been affected from accessible resources and support to media representations of AAPI.
“We should talk more about the lack of support within the AAPI community in mental health, the LGBTQ+ community and representation in the media. I believe that we can improve on accepting LGBTQ+ AAPI and mental illnesses in and outside of the community,” Tran said. “I also mentioned representation in the media. Though we had a big breakthrough with ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ we still have a lot of work ahead of us when it comes to displaying more diverse AAPI characters like a person that is not cisgender, straight or neurotypical. These people do exist in this world, so why can’t they be represented in the media? Without representation (starting) as children, we can’t easily see the beauty in being Asian.”
California State Assembly member Evan Low, a Democrat who grew up in San Jose and attended Leland High School, has been holding rallies the past few weeks around the Bay Area to bring awareness about anti-AAPI hate while also using his role as state legislator to support the AAPI community. He hopes the discussion of anti-AAPI hate goes far beyond marches and creates change to society to similar movements in the past relating to equality and justice.
“In February, I introduced HR 23 to condemn these hate crimes and I was deeply moved to have 67 co-authors, including all of California Legislative Diversity Caucuses. That tells me we have allies on both sides of the aisle — regardless of a legislator’s identity or political party — and we will be taking decisive action in the Legislature. In the meantime, my focus will always be raising awareness and making sure AAPI voices are heard,” Low said. “We’ve seen the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements have enormous success in changing the discussions around sexual harassment, violence and racism and even the language we use. But that doesn’t mean we march for a day or two and everything is solved. We have to be relentless in the way we engage on the issue of hate crimes and how they are linked to fear, insecurity and a lack of compassion and empathy.”
There are numerous ways to help support the AAPI community, Luu listed a few places for allies of where their activism should begin.
“Start with educating yourself. There’s a lot of books, articles and resources about AAPI history in the United States. It starts with one-self to understand why within our history in terms of the anti-Asian sentiments how it has changed over the course of years. Also, reach out and find organizations like #HATEISAVIRUS or Stop AAPI Hate or advocate for AAPI justice,” Luu said. “We all want to be treated as humans, as the saying goes, ‘treat others how you want to be treated.’ Lend your voice if you have the privilege.”