New Report Shows Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Spiked 339% Last Year

New research released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University has revealed that anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 339% across the United States last year.

Los Angeles reported the most hate crimes of any U.S. city this century, followed by New York City. This data also reveals that Black Americans have continued to be the most targeted group across the majority of the cities, while the Jewish community reported the highest number of hate crimes last year.

This research aligns with data from the New York City Police Department released last month stating that anti-Asian hate crimes had risen by 361% in 2021, as well as reports from the San Francisco Police Department that found such crimes rose by 567% in 2021.

In efforts to denounce this violence, activists have organized nationwide protests and informational events across the country over the last year. One of the most recent includes the rallies that took place on Jan. 30, during which thousands of Asian American and Pacific Islander people and their allies came together in six different cities (New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco) to commemorate the death of Vicha Ratanapadkee, an 84-year-old Thai American man killed in San Francisco on Jan. 28, 2021.

In testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Asian Americans Advancing Justice President John Yang noted that “the Asian American community has long struggled for visibility and equity, and now [our] communities face additional physical and mental health harms arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Yang also said that the health and economic fears caused by COVID-19 have led people to look for someone to blame.

“The use of racist terms, the focus on a society or culture as the ‘cause’ for the COVID-19 pandemic, and policies that demonize immigrants all contribute to an atmosphere where racism and xenophobia is legitimized,” Yang said. “It is also part of a broader structural racism that this country is continuing to confront.”

An example of how this blame has impacted the AAPI community in other ways can be seen through Asian-owned businesses nationwide. A report by McKinsey & Company noted that “misguided fears of the virus effectively shuttered businesses in many Asian American cultural districts” a full month before lockdown began, despite few confirmed COVID-19 cases in those areas. At the same time, approximately 2 million Asian Americans are putting themselves at risk as front-line and essential workers.

In terms of how the data on anti-Asian attacks is collected, Yang said there is no uniform database, and that data is mostly self-reported on a website called Stop AAPI Hate as well as StandAgainstHatred.org.

Many of these crimes may not even be reported because of language barriers and distrust of the government, especially law enforcement, according to Carmelyn Malalis, the commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Hate incidents are, by definition, acts of prejudice that are motivated by hostility but are not crimes because they do not involve violence, threats, or property damage. These incidents are also mostly underreported because they do not legally fit the definition of a hate crime, which is a crime motivated by bias against people of a particular race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Although there are federal laws regarding hate crimes in the United States, state laws vary widely.

Addressing these problems can be approached in five ways, according to Yang:

1. Making sure organizations have the data to make informed decisions about hate incidents and hate crimes
2. Including the needs and concerns of Asian Americans in all aspects of policymaking at all levels of government
3. A greater investment and engagement of Asian American community organizations that work directly with impacted communities at a local level
4. Continuing to educate communities and provide people with tools to respond when they see or experience a hate crime
5. Vigilance in calling out those who use xenophobic and racist rhetoric

Although these steps will not completely prevent AAPI-related hate crimes and incidents, they target important factors that can motivate these crimes.

In March 2021, President Joe Biden laid out plans to address racism against the AAPI community by increasing accessibility to hate crime data, requiring new training for local police, and established approximately $50 million in grants to support sexual assault/abuse and domestic violence survivors who face language barriers. Biden signed executive orders in May 2021 that addressed these issues.

The Stop AAPI Hate website lists numerous initiatives for those who want to report an incident, get involved in community events, or donate. The Movement Hub and Shared Liberation Network, which is a coalition and living library that amplifies the work of grassroot AAPI partners across the country, is also listed on the site.

Esther Lim, a justice deputy for the Los Angeles County supervisor and second-generation Korean American, has created free booklets in nine different languages (Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and English) that detail the process of reporting hate crimes and also include English phrases to say to a bystander if help is needed.

Lim states on her website that she designed these booklets after being afraid for her own parents’ safety and that they also offer help for those who do not have access to the internet.

Toolkits have also been created by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in collaboration with the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum that similarly provide background on understanding the difference between a hate crime and a hate incident, working with law enforcement and media, and a checklist for community organizations. These toolkits can also be translated in up to 25 different languages.

Yang also reminded people in his testimony that the racist sentiment toward Asian Americans is not a passing trend but a continuing reality.

“Deep structural changes are necessary to protect Black lives, to prevent “China bashing,” and other forms of racism, prejudices, and biases,” Yang said. “There is no single solution that will cure racism quickly. Rather, it will be through a combination of different efforts that will produce lasting change.”