Friday, September 23, 2022

UCLA study: COVID-19 related anti-Asian hate continues to rise


STOPASIANHATE GRAPHIC

Hate acts against California's Asian Americans are continuing to rise even after 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study released by UCLA.

It has been well documented that this latest surge of anti-Asian hate began at the same time the pandemic took hold of the world in 2020 fueled by the racist rantings of Donald Trump linking the coronavirus to China. 

More than 1 in 12 (8%) Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) adults in California experienced a hate incident due to COVID-19. Of those who experienced a hate incident, 84% said they sustained verbal abuse or insults, says a report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).

“The California Health Interview Survey 2020 data found that about 4% of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders had been treated unfairly because of their race/ethnicity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data released today show that percentage has doubled,” says Ninez A. Ponce, UCLA CHPR director and CHIS principal investigator. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, Stop AAPI hate has collected over 11,500 reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans. California, which has the largest AANHPI population in the US, led the states with the largest number of reported incidents, at over 4,000. New York came in second, with about 1,800, according to Stop AAPI Hate's latest report.

The UCLA survey, released on Sept. 20, also found that more than 1 in 5 (22%) AANHPI adults had witnessed another AANHPI person being treated unfairly due to their race/ethnicity. The findings are part of a series of COVID-related questions asked of AANHPI adults between February and May 2022, and made available on the CHIS Preliminary COVID-19 Estimates Dashboard.

Other key findings about the impact COVID-19 had on AANHPI, include.

  • ​About 1 in 2 Asian (50%) and Black or African American (52%) adults and more than 1 in 3 (37%) of Latinx adults said they always wore a mask, compared to 1 in 5 (20%) white adults. 
  • 45% of adults in Los Angeles County said they always wore a mask when leaving their homes compared to 14% of adults in Northern/Sierra counties and the Sacramento area. Among other California regions, 20% of adults in the Central Coast, 25% of adults in other Southern California regions, 36% of adults in the San Joaquin Valley and Greater Bay Area always wore a mask.
  • ​13% of AANHPI adults had difficulties performing work due to poor internet or lack of computer. 
  • AANHPI adults were more positive about the local government’s response to COVID-19 compared to the federal government: Nearly 2 in 3 (64%) AANHPI adults said they agree or strongly agree that the local government had done a good job managing the COVID-19 outbreak compared to 50% who agree or strongly agree that the federal government had done a good job. About 1 in 4 (24%) of AANHPI adults disagree or strongly disagree that the federal government had done a good job. 
  • Among AANHPI adults who experienced financial difficulties due to COVID-19, 54% had trouble paying utilities and 49% had trouble paying rent.

In addition to the AANHPI data, California Health Interview Survey released June 2022 findings from a series of COVID-19 questions on Californians’ experiences with long COVID, views on vaccines and boosters, personal and financial impacts of the pandemic, and risk reduction behaviors.

About 1 in 3 (33%) California adults who have had COVID-19 are experiencing long COVID symptoms. Lower-income adults were more than twice as likely to experience long COVID compared to the highest-income adults: 52% of adults at 0–99% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and 53% of adults at 100–199% FPL had long COVID, compared to 22% of adults at 300% FPL and above.

More California adults went maskless in June 2022, with more than 1 in 5 (22%) California adults saying they never wore a mask when leaving their home in the past week, compared to 8% who never wore a mask in February–March.

“Hate incidents can cause long-term psychological and physical trauma," says Ponce,  "so it’s critical that we provide timely data on often overlooked racial and ethnic groups so that decision-makers can take steps to put an end to hate incidents in California." 

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


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