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SCREEEN CAPTURE / CBS |
Hate crimes against Asian Americans in Los Angeles County increased by 76% last year. While the percentage may be smaller than the state's 107% surge, it is the largest spike in hate crimes against a specific ethnic group since 9/11 sparked a surge of hate acts against South Asian, according to a Los Angeles County report.
The report by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) released Oct. 20 means that in real numbers, there was a jump from 25 to 44 hate crimes in 2020.
“We are in the middle of a full-on state of emergency, a full-on state of crisis, when it comes to hate crimes and hate incidents nationwide and here in California,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a news conference after after meeting with Long Beach community leaders on Thursday. “No part of the state is immune from hate.”
“It is troubling to learn of the 76% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020,” said Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. “These numbers continue to underscore the need for increased outreach for reporting hate crimes, along with culturally competent support to help prevent acts of violence and protect survivors."
There were most likely more hate crimes that went unreported because AAPI tend to not report the incidents to police. “We believe that under-reporting of hate crimes is a serious problem in the Asian community because of linguistic and cultural barriers, immigration status, unfamiliarity with the criminal justice system, and fear that reporting hate crimes could bring retaliation or unwanted publicity,” the commission wrote in its report.
About 45% of the crimes against Asian people in the county last year happened in the city of Los Angeles, according to the report. A “significant cluster” took place in the South Bay that include the cities of Long Beach, Torrance and Carson where large communities of Asian Americans reside. The rest were recorded throughout smaller cities and unincorporated places, regardless of whether a large Asian population was present in the community.
"These crimes are disgusting racists tropes propagated by ignorant statements and actions that ultimately hurt our communities as a whole. It is my hope that the additional resources the Board has surged to the "LA vs. Hate" initiative will strengthen the impact of our many partners combatting hate on the frontlines and providing justice and healing to our communities,” said Mitchell.
Although there are thousands of hate incidents against Asian Americans, most of those reported to an agency such as Stop AAPI Hate cannot meet the legal criteria to be called a hate crime. In California, for an incident to be labeled a hate crime requires evidence that bias hatred or prejudice was a substantial motivating factor in the commission of the crime.
Significant findings by the Commission include the following:
- Specific Asian nationalities and ethnicities were the targets of hate. Most slurs were anti-Chinese, but anti-Japanese and anti-Asian Indian hate crimes also occurred. Among the victims were people of Korean, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Guatemalan ethnicity.
- In 10 of the anti-Asian hate crimes (23%), the suspects explicitly blamed the victims for COVID-19.
- The rate of hate-related violence in 2019 (76%) and 2020 (77%) was significantly higher compared to prior years.
- The median age of victims increased from 30 to 41. Half of the victims were over 40, including two seniors. In 2019, there were no victims of hate crimes over 40.
- There was a tripling in the number of female victims of anti-Asian hate crime compared to the previous year, rising to nearly half of all victims
- In cases in which the race of the suspect was known, Whites made up 42% of anti-Asian hate crime suspects. This was followed by Latino/a (36%) suspects and African American (19%) suspects.
“This last finding is particularly important,” noted Robin Toma, LACCHR Executive Director. “Contrary to impressions which might be drawn from videos in social media posts and news coverage, which are of only a fraction of the actual hate crimes, our report indicates that the racial makeup of suspects committing anti-Asian hate crimes is much more racially diverse.”
“The scapegoating of Asian Americans during the current pandemic is part of a dark history that includes LA’s Chinatown massacre of 1871, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, as well as the racially-motivated murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and the killing of Joseph Ileto in LA by a white supremacist in 1999,” said Commission President Guadalupe Montaño. “It did not help that the former President repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as ‘chinavirus’ and ‘kung-flu.’”
“While I am proud of our innovative LA vs. Hate campaign, the 2020 anti-Asian Hate Crime Report shows that we have much more work to do,” shared Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis, Supervisor to the First District.
“The First District is home to many residents of Asian and Pacific Islander descent. It is disturbing that our AAPI communities continue to be targeted and discriminated against. We must ensure that Los Angeles County is truly a place where everyone can be who they are without fear," she said.
The L.A. County surge in anti-Asian hate is disconcerting but other cities in the U.S have experienced even high spikes. In New York City, hate crimes against Asians soard over 150% in 2020. For California overall, the increase was 107% says Bonta, the first Filipino American AG for the state.
In response to the rise in hate, the Board of Supervisors directed LACCHR to develop an initiative to prevent and respond to hate incidents in the County, which resulted in “L.A. vs Hate.”
The “L.A. vs Hate” initiative has three components:
(1) a community-driven public engagement campaign to encourage residents and organizations to unite against and report acts of hate;
(2) the first government hotline (via 211) for reporting acts of hate and providing assistance to hate victims; and
(3) a network of community agencies that provide hate prevention and rapid response services.
Since launching in June 2020, “L.A. vs Hate” content has been viewed over 468 million times and has been shared over 88 million times. Since September 2019, when L.A. vs. Hate and 211 began accepting calls to report hate, L.A. vs. Hate has received more than 1,400 reports of hate acts.
Otto Solórzano, Acting Director of the LA County Department of Workforce Development, Aging and Community Services said the increase in hate is alarming. “With hate crimes likely to be underreported, we know that the actual number of hate crimes is higher than we’re able to report," he said. "If you experience a hate crime or hate act, call 211 or go to www.LAvsHate.org to receive assistance.”
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