Following the recent Atlanta spa attacks, protesters have taken to the streets to stand up against anti-Asian hate crimes. On March 24th, dozens of citizens combed the streets of New York City wearing identifying neon vests with the mission of looking out for any potential hate crimes. Composed of students, retail workers, and retirees, this volunteer group acted as a patrol, providing help by intervening harassment, escorting people away from potential danger, or calling the police. Similar volunteer groups have formed all across the nation, ranging from New York to Oakland, California. Acting as extra eyes in otherwise crowded and rampant cities, they provide many Asian American citizens with an added sense of security.
A study conducted at CSU San Bernardino found that hate crimes against Asians have increased nearly 150% between 2019 and 2020. With knowledge of coronavirus emerging in China, people have used this as justification for their disrespect, blaming innocent civilians for the outbreak of a global pandemic. Unfortunately, though, racism against Asian Americans is not a new concept. Tracing all the way back to the 1850’s when Chinese immigrants began living in the U.S, the public regarded them as “Asians coming to steal White jobs.” Though largely untrue, as Chinese immigrants commonly filled dangerous, lower-wage jobs, the Supreme Court validated these accusations in their ruling of People v. Hall (1854), which stated that those of Asian descent could not testify against a White person. The history of racism doesn’t end there. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese immigration for 20 years. In the 1940’s, Japanese citizens were placed in internment camps for the duration of WWII. These are just a few of many hate crimes made against Asian Americans, making it crucial to understand, and sympathize with, the historical lack of respect the U.S. has held towards Asians.
Racism against Asian Americans stems all the way back to Court rulings from the 1800's, and the normalization of insensitive and inaccurate stereotypes only feeds this problem. As more citizens begin to stand up against hate and promote unity, the U.S. finds itself moving into a new era; an era hopefully filled with greater respect and inclusion.
Questions To Consider:
1. If you were to personally witness a hate crime, what do you believe the best course of action would be to take?
2. What are some ways organizations can take action against Asian American hate crimes?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/18/history-anti-asian-violence-racism/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/22/nyregion/nyc-asian-hate-crimes.html
5 comments:
I think it is sad that our country has had such a violent history against Asian Americans. If I were to witness a hate crime, I think the best course of action is to step in and help prevent the crime from continuing. An example of this would be if I were to see a person getting called racial slurs on the street, I would think that intervening and supporting the victim as well as making the aggressor back off would be the best course of action. However, in some situations this isn't an option, and in that case I think spreading awareness, such as yelling or bringing attention to the hate crime would work well. Calling the police would not work in this scenario as well since the police themselves have been known to sometimes get involved in hate crimes, so they wouldn't be much help here. I think that in terms of preventing any hate crime, large protests and public awareness gathering are a great course of action. Educating the public about the existence of hate crimes and what they can do about it is the easiest way of preventing them from happening. Thank you so much for sharing!
If I was to witness a hate crime, first I would try to stop the situation and make sure all parties are safe. If not then I would call the authorities to further help with the situation. If the authorities were the ones partaking in the crime I would try to get the attention of as much people possible around me and try to help publicize what is happening. Organizations in my opinion can only really take action by ensuring safety I feel if we want real change we need to teach our youth to accept all. People don't just become racist it gets instilled unto them from a young age. That is the heart of the problem and what needs to be resolved.
The rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans is very unsurprising; people always seek out a scapegoat when they or their society faces problems. It’s harder to look at yourself and the problems that may be present (for example, maybe the continued spread of coronavirus and deaths as a result were more due to Americans refusing to socially distance or follow safety measures at every point during the pandemic than it was the fault of Asian Americans simply living). Yet, paired with this predictable rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans is the belief that Asian Americans are a model minority. While the intent sometimes can be good in complementing the work ethic of a people (though this too is problematic since the term Asian is such an umbrella term that covers so many different types of peoples in cultures), it has many damaging effects. Because many Asian Americans are financially successful, people use this model minority logic to justify racism and hate crimes. The same patterns and logic of hate have been continually applied towards the Jewish people--success doesn’t exclude someone from hate (I bring this up because I’ve can see these similarities as I’ve learned about my own people). I think the way to solve hate crimes and this sort of logic in the long run is, as I mentioned, forcing people to look inwards instead of blaming others. This is exceedingly difficult to do because people often believe they are flawless and always correct. It appears the youth’s fad of trying to get people to look inwards is by posting on social media constantly, but due to confirmation bias and the limits of virtual lessons, these seem to me ineffective (though sometimes it’s all we can do). More effective is calling out harmful stereotypes and racism in person when you see it and having a conversation to try and force people to look inwards.
If I were to see a hate crime happen in front of me, I would do my best to defend the person who is in danger, and or try to talk to get more help, (from the police). If nothing else was working to help the individual in need, I would try to record everything and try to get as much evidence and people to the scene as I can because then it would become in the public eye. I think someways organizations can help prevent asian american hate crimes would be to educate individuals on the issue and not only try to spread more awareness to these crimes but also have bigger consequences. I think the police needs to do more to prosecute people that have been involved in these hate crimes, while spreading more awareness on this issue.
If I were to personally witness a hate crime, I would do my best to make sure everyone is safe and stop it as best as I could. The next course of action I would take is recording evidence and going to the authorities. Hopefully, they would take it from there and the person can get justice. Some ways organizations can take action against Asian American hate crimes would first be to spread awareness and take a non-violent approach. I would educate others and encourage others to do so as well. Overall, spreading more awareness on this issue from not only the police, but as well as other organizations and people.
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