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Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. (Courtesy photo)
July 13, 2020
Nicholas Wolfram Smith
Asians and Pacific Islanders have reported increasing incidents of discrimination and racism during the pandemic, according to data recently published.Stop AAPI Hate received more than 2100 online submissions of racist actions from across the country between March and June, marking a sharp increase in anti-Asian incidents. Among the 832 California incidents reported to the website were 81 assaults and 64 potential violations of civil rights, according to a press release.
The website is a collaboration between the Asian Pacific Policy Planning and Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies department.
Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, said the upward trend of incidents is “very alarming."
Choi said website submissions rise in tandem with “racist and xenophobic rhetoric coming from the President of the United States and other elected officials,” which is used to deflect from the “epic failure in containing the pandemic.” In a number of incidents, she said, President Trump’s name was invoked, along with anti-immigrant beliefs and terms like “China virus.”
“We believe this type of demagoguery is making it dangerous for Asian Americans in the U.S.,” she said.Incidents have been reported in 31 California counties, in grocery stores, restaurants, parks and neighborhoods. A report released June 30 details incidents of verbal harassment, shunning and physical assault. Asian Americans were told to “go back to China” and blamed for bringing coronavirus to the U.S.
A respondent from Santa Clara reported her dog was kicked by a man who then told her “to shut my dog up … (he) then spat at me, saying ‘Take your disease that's ruining our country and go home.’” Another reported shopping in Livermore when someone yelled “Get out of my way! You don’t speak English.” Others had bottles thrown at them, were spat at or assaulted.Choi said she would like to see governments take anti-Asian discrimination seriously and use existing civil rights law to respond to racist incidents. “We want them to ensure the safety and rights that protected groups have, that’s all that we’re asking,” she said.
Choi said a comprehensive solution by city and state governments has to use more than the laws in place. Hate crime legislation is “a very legal framework, it’s narrow, and we’re seeing that many incidents, as harrowing and shocking as they are, don’t rise to the level of hate crimes,” she said. Policing, she added, “is not the solution to many of these incidents.” Public education campaigns and condemnation of anti-Asian behavior are integral to any response.
“There should be a range of responses to rally and mobilize the community to ensure we have safety planning efforts in place. We want to come up with community based interventions and solutions, build cross-community solidarity and redefine what safety means for our community,” she said.
Recent videos of anti-Asian incidents in California have boosted the importance of anti-discrimination work. At a Carmel Valley restaurant, a man began berating a nearby family and uttering racist insults. In Marin County, a woman told a family to go back to where they came from and threatened to call the police after they brought their dog on a trail.In a press release, SFSU professor Russell Jeung, chair of the university Asian American Studies department, said the incidents detailed by Stop AAPI Hate represent the “tip of the iceberg of anti-Asian American hate and discrimination. Without government accountability, we risk COVID-related racism against Asian Americans becoming deeply entrenched, ultimately impacting the lives of millions of people in California and around the country.”