Racism in the United States of America has evidently worsened following over 1,800 incident reports filed at the Stop Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders Hate (Stop AAPI Hate) website on discriminatory and harassment incidents that they have faced in public spaces as well as on social media.
San Francisco State University and co-founder of the Stop AAPI Hate website Russel Jeung expressed his dismay that many individuals associate their hate for China with those whose physical appearances have Asian features.
“When China is made the enemy, people who look like Chinese are the enemy. The economy is tanking, people are dying. They’re angry and fearful and want to take it out on Asian Americans even more,” said Jeung as per a report from Reuters.
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Asian-Americans, including Filipinos living in the USA, have banded together to rally and support each other on social media, with some taking action on streets to do patrols to protect their fellow Asian-Americans.
Hashtags such as #HateIsAVirus , #UnapologeticallyAsian , and #RacismIsAVirus “try to capture the rising Asian-American pride that has bubbled to the surface during COVID-19,” said Filipino-American Jeremiah Abraham, heads of Tremendous Communications, a marketing company focused on Asian-American entertainment as per a Reuters report.
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Data from the Stop AAPI Hate website reveal that 90% of individuals were targeted because of their race, with as high as 37% of these incidents that happened in public spaces. Over 90% of the reports also pointed out that Asian Americans have been verbally harassed online or in person, with some 15% who were physicall assaulted, spat or coughed on.
USA’s Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledged the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in the country. The San Francisco Police Department has also expanded its presence and patrols to essentially act as a crime deterrent.
