In the aftermath of the recent increase in hate crimes and bias incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, many communities are showing their support in various ways, from social media activism to mutual aid efforts.
Efforts like these are starting to heighten awareness surrounding racism against Asian Americans, which can be ingrained and subtle — ranging from racially insensitive incidents to physical attacks, experts say. And it’s been fueled over the past year by pandemic-related rhetoric such as referring to the coronavirus as the “China virus,” reports have shown.
Initiatives including educational resources, donation sites, in-person volunteering and reading lists all aim to help prevent further violence. Last year from March to December, there were 2,800 anti-Asian American hate incidents, according to the online self-reporting tool Stop AAPI Hate. There were 69 incidents that included racist language in addition to a physical incident. The site doesn't report these to police.
Experts share further resources below on how to be anti-racist and support the Asian American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, community.
Racism against AAPIs has a long and painful history, dating back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States. Scholars say this law scapegoated Chinese workers on the West Coast who were often blamed for declining wages and job opportunities. A century later, many Americans continued to blame Asian Americans for their economic woes, this time in the auto industry, as Japanese manufacturers made their way into the U.S. market. In 1982, Vincent Chin, a 27-year-old Chinese American was murdered in Detroit by two white men — one a Chrylser worker and another a recently laid-off Chrysler worker — who, according to a witness, used obscene language while blaming him for losing his job.
Resources:
-- “Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning” is a collection of essays published in 2020 about the nuances of the Asian American experience
-- “Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White” examines stereotypes, such as the perpetual foreigner and the model minority myth, and tackles issues including affirmative action, immigration and interracial marriage
--Self Evident: Asian American’s Stories is a podcast that aims to challenge assumptions about Asian Americans
--PBS’ Asian Americans is a five-part documentary series on the history of Asians in America.
--#AsianAmCovidStories is a YouTube documentary series exploring Asian Americans’ experiences and challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many members of the AAPI community have long said they feel the need to “prove” they experience racism, and social media has been somewhat of a game changer in terms of being able to offer “receipts.” Though experts say the fact the community even feels compelled to do so points to a larger problem.
“Asians have had a harder time proving racism in a large part because, in general, people still don’t know the history and struggles of Asian Americans,” Stewart Kwoh, president emeritus of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, said previously. “That’s the overwhelming problem we have to confront as a society.”
Sharing racist incidents on social media helps dispel the myth that Asian Americans don’t experience violent crime or racism, said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director at the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, told NBC Asian America.
“The enormous force of the model minority myth — that you’re all doing well, that your issues are not the same as others who are really suffering — is what we’re fighting against,” she said.
Factual information is essential to furthering conversations about racism in a productive way, said Russell M. Jeung, a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. He points to specific suggestions surrounding terminology.
“‘Xenophobia’ assumes we’re foreigners, so call it ‘racism’,” Jeung said. “And don’t call it ‘anti-Asian sentiment’ because sentiment is all warm and fuzzy. Call it ‘Asian hate,’ because that’s what it is.”
Be clear on the difference between a hate or a bias incident and a hate crime –- that a bias incident might involve an act like a slur and a hate crime is a physical act of violence that shows racial motivation. Public mislabeling of incidents can have an impact on a jury and lead to a greater sentence for a suspect. The distinction between these terms is essential, experts say.
“Hate crimes are really narrowly defined as crimes for which you can be arrested with a racial bias there,” Jeung said. “It’s not an indicator of the level and extent of racism occurring.”
Experts say that the conversation around anti-Asian American hate must include incidents besides hate crimes and that just because an act is not categorized as such doesn’t diminish its significance.
-- Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC’s tool for reporting hate incidents and Stop AAPI Hate’s tool for reporting hate incidents.
-- Learn what makes a hate crime from the U.S. Department of Justice.
-- Learn about coded language from the National Education Association's EdJustice.
Promoting safety doesn’t necessarily mean calling for more policing, experts say. Instead, safety can “look like neighbors helping each other out,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of civil rights nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. “It’s about creating that community where people feel like they are better protected and that they are not alone.”
In places like Oakland, California, Yang said community members are supporting their local Asian American elders by helping them run errands, walking them to the grocery store, or buying food for those who are too afraid to go outside. Aside from donations and volunteers, many nonprofits are also seeking help with political lobbying and letter writing.
