Civil Rights Commission issues report on federal reponse to anti-Asian racism

Law enforcement agencies across the United States need to be more vigorous in investigating alleged hate attacks against Asian Americans, says a new report.

The United States Commission on Civil Rights released the report Tuesday, "The Federal Response to Anti-Asian Racism in the United States." Based on extensive research, expert and public testimony, the report assesses the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the US from 2019 through 2021, and the federal role in preventing and enforcing federal hate crime laws.

“The report indicates that language barriers are impeding the reporting of incidents and that many incidents that do not meet the legal criteria for hate crimes, such as racial slurs or being spat on, still evoke fear but go unaccounted for in official statistics. said Commission Chair, Rochelle Mercedes Garza.

This report examines three main areas: 1) national trends and data regarding the rise of hate incidents and hate crimes against members of Asian communities; 2) local and state law enforcement’s prevention and reporting practices regarding hate crimes; and 3) federal efforts and policies that encourage greater participation in reporting hate crime incidents, as well as prosecution and enforcement efforts to prevent hate crimes.

“Ultimately, the absence of adequate performance metrics poses a significant challenge in assessing the federal government's effectiveness in combating the surge in hate crimes against the Asian community," said Garza. 

"While these barriers continue to exist, the Commission has outlined holistic strategy to combat anti-Asian hate incidents, ranging from data collection improvements and legal enforcement to community support and education initiatives.”

While anti-Asian sentiment is part of US history, the bias encouraged a rise in attacks against all Asians during the Donald Trump administration when through the use of racist slurs and innuendoes, Trump linked the COVID-10 virus to China and by inference, Chinese people. That surge of anti-Asian hate continues to this day.

Key findings in the report show that more comprehensive and national data is necessary to fully understand the extent of the harm that is being felt by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities.

The report found:

● A major impediment to understanding the severity and magnitude of hate crimes against persons of Asian descent is the lack of comprehensive data. 

● The transition to the NIBRS data collection has been slow for some agencies: for 2021, the number of participating agencies within the FBI hate crime database was 11,834, compared to the 15,138 participating agencies for 2020 data, and many of the agencies that have not submitted 2021 data are the largest jurisdictions. 

A major impediment to understanding the severity and magnitude of hate crimes against persons of Asian descent is the lack of comprehensive data, states the report. "Without mandatory national data collection and training law enforcement on how to accurately identify and report hate crimes, preventing these crimes is substantially challenging."

As a result, the report concludes, hate crime victims are less likely to report incidents due to fear of retaliation, concerns that justice would not be served, and distrust in the criminal justice system.

Another major barrier to gaining a comprehensive understanding of the magnitude of hate violence against Asian communities may be due to incidents not rising to the legal benchmark of a hate crime. Many incidents that are reported to community organizations, such as being spit on or called racial slurs are not accounted for in official numbers, yet still invoke fear in community members

In addition, the report finds that federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and victim services must identify deficiencies in and bolster their Limited English Proficient (LEP) programs to ensure all community members are reached.

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Rep. Grace Meng, left, gets a briefing on the report from Civil Rights Chair Commission Chair
 Rochelle Mercedes Garza.

Among the eight members of the Commission is Queens resident Glenn Magpanta, the only Asian American on the panel. Magpantay was recommended and sworn in this past February and Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY, and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-NY.

“As the only Asian American Pacific Islander currently serving on the Commission, this report has a deep personal connection to me,” said Filipino American Magpantay. “I am the survivor of a hate crime for being gay from 25 years ago and the victim of a hate crime for being Asian from 25 months ago.

Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, welcomed the report but acknowledged that more needs to be done to address the continuing attacks against Asian Americans.

"While there have been comprehensive efforts to address the alarming increase in anti-Asian hate crimes since the coronavirus pandemic began, like the enactment of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, the findings in this report show that more must be done to ensure this law is fully implemented and the civil rights of AANHPIs are fully protected."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.