U.S. President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order condemning anti-Asian racism on Jan. 26, but anti-Asian hate crimes still continue to make the headlines.
On the morning of Jan. 28, 2021, an 84-year-old Thai immigrant, Vicha Ratanapakdee, was walking around his neighbourhood in San Francisco when a young man suddenly ran towards him and violently shoved him to the ground. Ratanapakdee never regained consciousness after the assault and later died of sustained brain hemorrhage. Ratanapakdee’s family believed that this assault should be considered a hate crime because it was fueled by racial hate. Although the family did not have any concrete evidence to claim it as a hate crime, their assumption was not baseless.
Just two days after Ratanapakdee’s tragedy, a man in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood violently shoved a 91-year-old man, a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, leaving them injured. Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce president Carl Chan admitted that they have received more than 20 reports of assaults in the weeks prior to the incident. These show that the case of Ratanapakdee is not an isolated case but a case that reflects an emerging trend in the United States.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-Asian hate crimes have increased dramatically; many connect this to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Chinese Virus” rhetoric. There was a 150 percent increase in Anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 major cities in the United States in 2020. Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center that tracks and responds to hate incidents towards Asian American and Pacific Islander in the United States, stated that the overwhelming majority of racial discrimination was verbal harassment and name-calling (70.6 percent), followed by shunning (21.8 percent) and physical assault (6.4 percent).
To get a better understanding of what is currently happening, I interviewed Raymond Chang, president of Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC), about the rise of Anti-Asian hate crime in the United States.
Why are we seeing a resurgence of anti-Asian hate crimes after about a year of not hearing much about anti-Asian hate crimes on the news?
A part of the reason that it’s on the news is because people have been speaking up and calling their news stations to actually get involved. On top of that, we are seeing a continued resurgence of anti-Asian hate and violence that have always existed in the fabric of the United States. With Donald Trump calling the Coronavirus the “China Virus” and the “Kung Flu”, what we see is that the country is giving permission to scapegoat Asians. That [rhetoric] shifted the perspective towards Asian Americans all throughout the country that remains to this day. Obviously, there are some differences now where we are seeing more hate incidents and hate crimes. There are differences between hate incidents and hate crimes. The fact that someone was slashed by a boxcutter, someone was stabbed are all crimes that need to be addressed. But the problem is we don’t necessarily have a way of addressing hate incidents which are people calling people with racial slurs to someone bumping against you with their shoulder hard as they are walking by or someone putting unnecessary attention to you that puts you in danger like calling you “the flu.” So, what I am saying is that what we are seeing is the extension of what has already existed, which Trump inflamed, that continues to this moment.
Now, we are seeing organizations emerge to address Asian issues. There are several hashtags that are floating around from #stopaapihate to #wearenotavirus. We are seeing people like Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu participate in the conversation and they are trying to push the narrative. Jeremy Lin is speaking up about it and talks about his own experience. So, more Asian celebrities are addressing it and they are getting some pretty significant traction as a result. I will also say that Asian legislators are actively addressing anti-Asian hate especially Grace Meng and Andy Kim.
Why do you think Asian Americans are more vocal about anti-Asian racism now?
I think Vicha Ratanapakdee’s case was the catalyst because first of all, it was so unnecessary for someone to shove an elderly man. The second reason is that we respect our elders. We honor our elders. That’s a part of our inherent culture and our value system. Asians broadly have a deep respect for their elders and we have a deep value in honoring our elders in significant ways. So, as soon as we saw him get hurt, I think it mobilized the Asian American communities because a lot of us saw our own grandparents in that [incident]. Also, the fact that there were multiple [similar] events back-to-back.
What is the key to combating racism in America?
I think education plays a major role. Schools need to offer a curriculum that actually helps people to understand how race functions in America. Having a race-conscious representation in positions of influence and leadership and resourcing organizations that are speaking to do work around these issues are also important.
Solidarity between minority groups is extremely important. Without interminority, interethnic or interracial solidarity, we end up perpetuating the same cycles we have seen through our history. So, in order to create a new narrative and create a new pattern of life and living and society, we have to begin to work together. The challenge is when any group minimizes the experience of any other group and that is what we continue to see and we have to stop that. We have to understand that racism reveals itself in different ways and if we don’t understand that, it becomes challenging. We end up perpetuating the same cycle.
Eradicating systemic issues like racism requires a continuous and joint effort from every member of the community. According to Chang, we can do our part in fighting anti-Asian racism in various ways:
- Educate yourself by reading about Asian American history and racism in America. You can find helpful resources from the resource section below.
- Have a posture of listening and not minimizing the experience of other people and people groups.
- Catch yourself if you feel like you are going to harm or target Asian Americans for no reason or step back and de-escalate the tension when you are in the middle of a conflict.
- Report anti-Asian hate incidents and hate crimes to Stop AAPI Hate.
- Have conversations about anti-Asian racism issues with your community.
- Encourage educational institutions to provide resources and curriculum that helps people understand about how race works in the United States.
- Call your local news media to continue reporting on anti-Asian hate crimes or write about these issues in your school/college publication.
- Continue posting about these issues on your social media accounts to raise awareness.
- Donate to and/or volunteer with Asian American organizations working towards racial justice. You can see the list of organizations in the resource section below.
How to Learn More
Just as Chang said in his interview, education plays a major role in combating racism. Here are some resources that can give you more context and understanding about anti-Asian racism in the United States:
- Short reads
- Pragya’s article on how the model minority myth perpetuated anti-black racism
- The Muddled History of Anti-Asian Violence
- Lesson of the Day: A Rise in Attacks on Asian-Americans
- Anti-Asian racism, Black Lives Matter, and COVID-19
- The Long Western Legacy of Violence Against Asian Americans
- Longer reads
- Chains of Babylon: The Rise of Asian America by Daryl J. Maeda.
- The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority by Ellen D. Wu.
- The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
- Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank Wu.
- Raise Your Voice: Why We Stay Silent and How to Speak Up by Kathy Khang.
- Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown by Nayan Shah.
- Podcasts
You can also check out more resources and ways to advocate for racial justice from Asian American organizations listed below:
- Organizations to support
