According to a study from the Center of Hate and Extremism at California State University(CSUSB), anti-Asian hate crimes toward Asian Americans increased 149% from 2019 to 2020. These crimes target mostly Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese ethics and descendents people, accusing them of starting the pandemic and spreading the coronavirus. This was influenced by former President Trump, who called COVID-19 “Chinese Virus” on Twitter which spurred the rise of many racist hashtags.
The offenders abuse them verbally and physically, in the most extreme cases, even killing them, as showcased in Mar. 16 in the Atlanta shooting where six of the victims were Asian women which brought more awareness of the increase of hate crimes to the country.
New York is the only state that experienced a higher number of anti-Asian hate crimes since March 2020. California Governor Gavin Newsom gave a speech in San Francisco on March 19 to stop anti-Asian hate crimes. Newsom spoke about the story of the Asian community, in the Bay Area and how it infuriates him that they were experiencing the same discrimination in 2021 since 1881 before the Chinese Exclusion Act that prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers.
Two students at Terra Linda, who chose to remain anonymous, agreed about being scared to leave their houses after seeing what has happened around the country. “It’s pretty troubling to grasp that this is happening to my community. Since we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, I don’t have to worry about my safety, but my parents are beginning to transfer back to their everyday work life, so I’m constantly paranoid that something will happen to them,” one of the students stated.
They also point out that many of the crimes are targeting eldery people, like one that happened in Oakland’s Chinatown where a ninety-one year old man was pushed to the ground and had to be hospitalized with serious injuries. “I think the increase in violence is alarming and completely uncalled for, especially against the elderly.”
Many of the attacks in Chinatown are against merchants and people who can’t defend themselves. Fortunately, they started a volunteer patrol to fight back against all the attacks that have been happening there, but it’s disheartening that a volunteer and police patrolling is needed to protect the community.
It is disappointing to see some people continue to act in racist and xenophobic, how after all these years they can still be this arrogant, offending people that grew in the same neighbourhood as them. The hatred in these actions says something about how it has continued for centuries. This needs to stop to foster a better humanity, so that the USA can finally become the country of freedom that it pretends to be, for it to become a place where everyone is accepted and respected even if we have a long way to go repeating the same actions from the past is not going to take us anywhere.