The horrible attack of a 65-year-elderly person while strolling to chapel this week close to New York City's Occasions Square has elevated effectively tangible degrees of shock over the enemy of Asian assaults that began with the pandemic.
Stan Lee, fed up with the relentless assaults on Asian Americans, has recently begun voluntarily patrolling San Francisco's Chinatown. According to New York police, the attacker screamed racial slurs at the Filipina American lady. The video soon attracted millions of views and general criticism. The attacker was apprehended and charged with hate crimes on Wednesday.
Asian American organizations from coast to coast are striving not to let this new hate crime deter them from doing anything other than remote advocacy - patrolling, escorting, and chaperoning.
Following an attack on another older Asian American woman in Queens in February, Teresa Ting, a 29-year-old Chinese American, formed the Key Street Patrol in New York City. Volunteers work in three-person groups and connect via an app. Mainly in asian community right now, since many of the elders are unable to communicate in English. "They don't understand or talk English," she said. 'That's why I think a lot of hate crimes go unreported,' she says. Bystander training has also been recently on the rise and is being reinforced.
The attack in New York came only two weeks after a white gunman opened fire inside three Asian-owned massage parlors in Atlanta. Eight people were killed, including six Asian women. The gunman has not been charged with any hate crimes, and police faced strong scrutiny despite describing the suspect as having a "sex problem."
During a spike in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a report of how the Justice Department would better use its tools to fight hate crimes. Former President Donald Trump, according to Asian American advocates, is partially to blame because of his language surrounding COVID-19, which he often referred to as the "Chinese virus."
Hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by 150 percent last year, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, while total hate crimes declined by 7% during the pandemic.
Lee, the San Francisco firefighter, said he was able to continue volunteering for as long as it was required, and that he often runs into volunteers from other citizen patrols, showing how much publicity the problem is attracting. He's seen Asian American seniors who tend to keep their habits.
How it relates to Econ: More money needs to be going into teaching our youth how to treat people equally.
Questions to consider:
What are more ways we can educate people on the importance of equality?
Do you think the government should do more to help spread equality?
6 comments:
During the unprecedented time of the pandemic, racist and prejudiced people have looked for an unassuming scapegoat for their loss of normalcy: Asian Americans. Asain Americans have long been subject to racist ideology and policy, from harsh immigration policies to the model minority myth to fetishization. However, simultaneously, they have been assumed to hold a place of privelage because of their economic mobility. People that have long held positions of power might feel threatened by the success of many Asain Americans although not all of them can be branded as a "model minority." While our society has fought to educate and thus minimize the effects of prejudice, as seen by the 7% decrease in hate crimes during the pandemic, this conversation needs to finally center around Asain Americans to a much higher degree. As was the case with Asain Americans, society has a difficult time separating the socio from the economic when determining status. As reported by Pew Research, Asians overall rank as the highest earning racial and ethnic group in the U.S. However, this does not mean that they're immune from heinus hate crimes and prejudice.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u-s-is-rising-most-rapidly-among-asians/
During the unprecedented time of the pandemic, racist and prejudiced people have looked for an unassuming scapegoat for their loss of normalcy: Asian Americans. Asain Americans have long been subject to racist ideology and policy, from harsh immigration policies to the model minority myth to fetishization. However, simultaneously, they have been assumed to hold a place of privilege because of their economic mobility. People that have long held positions of power might feel threatened by the success of many Asian Americans although not all of them can be branded as a "model minority." While our society has fought to educate and thus minimize the effects of prejudice, as seen by the 7% decrease in hate crimes during the pandemic, this conversation needs to finally center around Asian Americans to a much higher degree. As was the case with Asian Americans, society has a difficult time separating the socio from the economic when determining status. As reported by Pew Research, Asians overall rank as the highest-earning racial and ethnic group in the U.S. However, this does not mean that they're immune from heinous hate crimes and prejudice.
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/07/12/income-inequality-in-the-u-s-is-rising-most-rapidly-among-asians/
It's very appalling, the fact that people are reaching in order to justify their hate crimes and attacks against Asian Americans, and the coronavirus was nothing short of an excuse in order to be racist and hurtful towards them. I think a great factor in the rise of reported crimes is former President Donald Trump, indirectly and directly allowing for racism when he refers to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus”. This led to more people thinking it’s ok to be racist since the president is so openly offensive. This is really depressing, and it’s disgusting how some people think this is justifiable.
This is a very sad thing to see and what's worse is it happens more than we see. We definitely need to teach our youth to accept all people and kill prejudice at the core when people are young. Whether that be starting a cultural studies class as mandatory or trying to diversify classes more, at a young age kids need to be taught to respect eachother. The government definitely needs to figure out how to crack down on racism. However punishing people I think will only do so much. Instead of prison maybe therapy sessions or classes. (On top of prison). The media and businesses need to make sure that there are strict anti-racism rules.
This country was founded around the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum (out of many, one) -- where diversity was understood and welcomed. Albeit, America has had a messy past, often failing to protect and embrace all groups equally. It is very disappointing to see one group scapegoated and unfairly negatively associated with Covid-19. Ultimately, it is the government's job to protect the natural rights of each American citizen, and I have also been disappointed in the very little progress that has been made, specifically around bills targeting Asian hate crimes.
Specifically, Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat, proposed a bill in which hate crime cases related to Covid-19 and Asian Americans would be expedited by the Justice Department. However, Republicans refuse to sign it and are practicing the filibuster to avoid the bill being passed. This bill is an extremely important step in protecting the Asian American community as it essentially makes a statement condemning these hate crimes which are putting one community in unfair danger. According to Hirono and other Democrats, Republicans have been unresponsive in efforts to get the bill passed. By not taking action on such bills, the government is not doing its job in protecting the Asian American community which is increasingly frustrating.
These hate crimes are a very disgusting and difficult issue, as they stem from a long history of racial prejudice. Equality is a vital subject that every human being should be able to understand. Many, including grown adults, should be educated on these issues, but In my opinion, there should be more of a focus on educating them earlier as during middle or high school. First, the school curriculum could mandate unbiased classes on current events, allowing students to have an informed view of what’s happening in the world. Additionally, students could also be required to study sociology, to fully understand human society. One other topic that would greatly benefit students is the study of culture and traditions of different racial groups. To put this into practice, for example, I could see topics like these combined in a semester or even year-long class similar to 9th grade health at Aragon, where the class focuses more on social health rather than individual health. Not only will these topics help children and adolescents learn crucial information, they can also help them to be more open-minded and generally more appreciative and accepting of differences in the world.
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