One of the most heart-wrenching and upsetting aspect of the rise in racist attacks against Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, is the targeting of the community elders.
A new report released Tuesday (May 24) found that over a quarter of the reports collected were physical attacks as the elderly were doing ordinary, day-to-day activities such as taking a walk or going to the grocery.
"These attacks on Asian American elders reverberate throughout the entire family. Over one-quarter of all Asian Americans live in multigenerational households — the highest percentage of any racial/ethnic group," states the report from Stop AAPI Hate, a community-based organization that has been collecting anti-Asian incident reports since the beginning of the pandemic.
“Elder Asian Americans deserve to feel safe – but for the past two years have been struggling with hate, fear and isolation,” said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. “This AAPI Heritage Month we need to recommit to their safety and support.”
In February of 2020, a video of the fatal attack on 84-year old Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco ent viral, and in the same week another video caught a violent blindsid shove hurtled another Chinese senior citizen to the Oakland sidewalk followed by a bloody razor attack on a Filipino American elder in New York's subway station, alarms went off in the AANHPI communities.
The attacks strike at the heart and soul of what makes up the AANHPI communities.
Not only are they the most vulnerable, least likely to fight back and unlikely to report the hate incidents, the attacks against AANHPI elders is an attack on one of the key values -- respect for elders -- held in common among the diverse communities that immigrated from Asia and the Pacific Islands.
They are the aunties and uncles, the pioneers, the trailblazers, the brave and adventuresome generation who left the comfort of their homelands in order to provide for better opportunities for the future generations of their family.
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| STOP AAPI HATE |
Highlights from new report released by Stop AAPI Hate reveals the extent of the hate attacks against the older generations:
Asian American elders – those ages 60 and up – experienced verbal harassment, shunning, physical assault, and other hate incidents.
• One out of four (26.2%) cases were physical assault, twice the rate of those under the age of 60 (15.4%). Elders also reported being refused service (5.7%) and having their property vandalized (7.2%) more than non-elders (4.0% and 4.2% respectively).
• Six out of 10 (62.5%) incidents reported by elders involved verbal harassment or shunning — the deliberate avoidance of individuals.
• In one in 12 (7.8 %) incidents, elders were coughed and spat upon.
• Asian American elders named race, ethnicity, and gender as the top suspected reasons for their discrimination. They reported language (8.1%) as a reason more than those under the age of 60 (7.2%).
Asian American elders were most likely to encounter incidents in public and at businesses.
• Like those under the age of 60, Asian American elders were most likely to face discrimination on public streets (36.7 %) and at businesses (26.7 %).
• Elders were twice as likely to face discrimination at private residences (15.8%) than those under the age of 60 (9.8%).
Asian American elders – those ages 60 and up – experienced verbal harassment, shunning, physical assault, and other hate incidents.
• One out of four (26.2%) cases were physical assault, twice the rate of those under the age of 60 (15.4%). Elders also reported being refused service (5.7%) and having their property vandalized (7.2%) more than non-elders (4.0% and 4.2% respectively).
• Six out of 10 (62.5%) incidents reported by elders involved verbal harassment or shunning — the deliberate avoidance of individuals.
• In one in 12 (7.8 %) incidents, elders were coughed and spat upon.
• Asian American elders named race, ethnicity, and gender as the top suspected reasons for their discrimination. They reported language (8.1%) as a reason more than those under the age of 60 (7.2%). Asian American elders were most likely to encounter incidents in public and at businesses.
• Like those under the age of 60, Asian American elders were most likely to face discrimination on public streets (36.7 %) and at businesses (26.7 %).
• Elders were twice as likely to face discrimination at private residences (15.8%) than those under the age of 60 (9.8%).
READ the complete Stop AAPI Hate Report.
The hate incidents are adding a new level of stress on the older AANHPI generation causing them to experience mental health trauma that is exacerbated because of the cultural reluctance to seek help outside of family to discuss the "shame" brought on by the stigma associated with mental vulnerability and the tendency fo keep the incidents to themselves only to suffer depression in silence.
One such report submitted to Stop AAPI Hate:
"They (feel they) have to stay inside because they can be targeted. They are staying at home, just like they did for the COVID-19 quarantine, but the way it impacts their feeling of wellness is completely different. The expression they use is, 'It hurts my spirit.'"“We’re asking that elected officials honor this month with action by creating safer public spaces for AAPI communities and all communities of color,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “Funding and supporting community-based organizations across the country is key to building safe places for elder Asian Americans.”
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