San Gabriel Valley report: New year, same old hate

SCREEN CAPTURE

AAPI in California's San Gabriel Valley rally against hate.

It may be 2022, but the hate acts against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continue like it was still 2020 or 2021 during which almost a third of AAPI have suffered from the racist attacks according to a new survey of California's San Gabriel Valley.

The Stop Hate Community Survey of Asian and Asian Americans found that nearly 31% of Asian American respondents said they or their family experienced a hate incident based on their race or ethnicity since the COVID-19 outbreak, with most of these incidents involving insults or verbal abuse.

The report surveyed AAPI residents of Los Angeles' eastern suburbs in the San Gabriel Valley, where a large concentration of Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipinos and South Asians reside. 

Most of the hate acts have been insults or verbal abuse. At a press conference Wednesday, Hanna Chang described one incident as she was recharging her car in front of a police station, an individual, apparently impatient at her progress shouted, "F---king chink!"

Racist abuse “can happen anywhere, and this was in the middle of the day, in front of a lot of people,” she said.

Conducted by the Asian Youth Center (AYC) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (Advancing Justice – LA), the report also found:

• 37% of respondents said they noticed an increase in racial discrimination or harassment in their community since the COVID-19 outbreak began in 2020, and

• 59% said they have changed the way they feel and behave when they leave home.

• 49% of parent respondents indicated they have concerns about their children returning to school related anti-Asian hate and bullying.

The Chinese Cultural Center is in Hacienda Heights in the San Gabriel Valley.

Survey respondents described getting verbally assaulted while shopping, observing hate speech and graffiti on Asian owned businesses, feeling anxiety about their safety when leaving home, and being concerned about physical attacks for the first time as an Asian American. The majority of respondents did not feel there is support in their community for victims of racial discrimination or harassment.

When asked to select resources that would be most effective in preventing discrimination, most respondents selected community patrol/neighborhood watch programs, followed by stronger community-police relations and cross-cultural events, such as community gatherings and celebrations.

About 3 out of 4 parent respondents felt that more training for teachers and staff and clearer protocols on how schools address violence and bullying would help them and their children feel safer returning to school.

Many respondents also felt their communities in general needed more mental health/substance abuse services, childcare/youth activities, and senior services. The full survey report is available at: www.aycla.org/survey.

The survey corresponds with other reports throughout the country citing the alarming rise in anti-Asian acts. Los Angeles County found that anti-Asian crime has risen 73% in 2021. New York City reports a rise of hate crimes against AAPI by 361%.

“AYC proposes to address these findings in several ways,” said Michelle Freridge, AYC Executive Director, “First, we will continue addressing Anti-Asian Hate incidents in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County through in-language community education, engagement, and mobilization activities to empower residents to prevent, address, and recover from anti-Asian hate incidents.”

In addition, AYC is implementing:

• Youth-led social justice projects with high school students in Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley through the Youth & Parent Leadership Development Program and Dream Allies Network;

• After-school programming in Alhambra Unified School District and the San Gabriel Unified School District for K-8 students has incorporated classes from the Asian American Education Project curriculum and anti-bullying lessons; and

• In partnership with LA vs. Hate, AYC will continue to create and support local initiatives working to stop hate in our communities, such as LA vs Hate’s Stronger Together mural project by local artist MariNaomi. Through community events, public art, and social media outreach, we will continue working with other local partners to engage the community and amplify the message that any kind of hate is unacceptable.

“San Gabriel Valley is one of the most important Asian communities in California and we are here for individuals who don’t know where to turn for confidential, safe support," said Connie Chung Joe, CEO, Advancing Justice – LA. "We can help in their languages. We will continue to fight for public programs and services that serve the diverse and complex needs of AAPIs in this community.”

Shopping malls in the San Gabriel Valley reflect their clientele.

Based on the survey results, AYC and Advancing Justice – LA will work to engage policymakers and advocate for the resources requested by the community. The organizations also plan to expand their existing efforts to address anti-Asian hate and discrimination.

Advancing Justice – LA prioritizes programs that address anti-Asian discrimination and hate in the following ways:

• Reaching the most vulnerable immigrant communities through it's Asian Language Help lines and targeted community outreach. AAAJ-LA provides free victims and legal assistance in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Vietnamese, and English.

• Public communications and awareness campaigns which include opeds and national/local PSAs through ethnic and mainstream media partners, allied organizations, and social media outlets. This includes advertising in multiple Asian languages to raise awareness and counter-messaging against harmful rhetoric.

• Amplifying AAPI voices by speaking out on behalf of the community in public forums, discussions, and briefings with national, state, county, and city officials, legislators, nonprofit leaders and corporations.

• Bystander Intervention Trainings: Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles has partnered with AYC and a coalition of community-based organizations to deliver Bystander Intervention Trainings for residents throughout Southern California. Currently, trainings are offered for adults in English and can be accessed here. AYC just completed translating the curriculum into Chinese, so trainings will be available in Chinese soon. 

Those who have been victims of hate should consider reporting with LA County by calling 211 or using LA County’s LA vs. Hate online form. Hate incidents can also be reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian American discrimination.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views, raves and rants from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.