Shooting tragedies spark anti-gun resolve in AANHPI communities; ban on assault weapons

ABC

Brandon Tsay was President Biden's guest at the State of the Union last night.

After introducing Brandon Tsay, the hero who wrestled away an illegal assault weapon from the man accused of killing 11 people at a Monterey Park dance studio, President Biden made a plea for gun control."Let's stop assault weapons now!" he said.

In his State of the Union speech last night, Biden urged federal lawmakers to restrict the sale of the popular firearms as he laid out his policy goals for the rest of his term. He cited the recent mass shootings in California as motivation to “do something” on guns. He touted the bipartisan gun law passed in the wake of the Uvalde elementary school shooting but insisted further gun restrictions were necessary to solve the problem.

“Ban assault weapons now! Ban them now,” Biden said. “Once and for all.”

The Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay mass shootings last month has spurred Asian Americans to ask their lawmakers to strengthen gun control laws.

“After three years of increasing anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents, the two recent tragic events involving the mass shooting of members of the AAPI community have exacerbated the fear and anxiety already felt by so many," said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Americans Caucus. "That is why I am proud to announce that CAPAC fully endorses the Assault Weapons Ban Act as an essential measure in keeping our communities safe.

“Assault weapons are solely designed for inflicting maximum damage – and are the firearm of choice for mass shootings," Chu continued. "Weapons of war have no place in our streets, schools, grocery stores, places of worship, movie theaters, or dance studios. All Americans deserve to feel safe and protected from hate and violence, and we in CAPAC will continue working towards eliminating gun violence and protecting our communities.”

The Assault Weapons Ban Act would prohibit the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of semiautomatic weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices across the country. The House of Representatives passed this legislation in the 117th Congress. Presently, the bill is in committee in the Senate.

Asian Americans overwhelming are in favor of gun control according to a survey by AAPI Data. On average, almost 80% of Asian Americans favor stricter gun laws.

From 2015 through 2019, more than 3,000 Asian Americans died from gun suicides, homicides and accidental shootings, says Stop AAPI Hate.

In an opinion article published in several US newspapers, Stop AAPI Hate co-founders Cynthia Choi and Manjusha P. Kulkarni said: "All of us, from leaders and policymakers to community members, have a role to play in creating sane gun policies. In the same way that we've powerfully mobilized against anti-AAPI hate over the past three years, against enormous odds, we can mobilize around gun violence prevention.

"We deserve to be protected. We deserve to feel safe. And we will not back down in the face of adversity."

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

California governor announces members of the Commission on the State of Hate

Last year, Cynthia Choi introduced Gov. Gavin Newsom at a press conference. 

Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, was one of five appointees to the newly formed Commission on the State of Hate.

Created by legislation Newsom signed last year and established in the 2022 Budget Act, the Commission will assess data on hate crimes in California, provide resources for victims, and make policy recommendations to better protect civil rights.

Choi, 56, of San Francisco, has been Co-Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action since 2016 and a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate since 2020. 

She held several positions at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy from 2006 to 2016, including Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships and Deputy Director. Choi was Interim Executive Director at Khmer Girls in Action from 2004 to 2006. She held several positions at the California Endowment from 1997 to 1999, including Program Officer and Regional Manager. Choi was also Co-Director of MultiCultural Collaborative from 1994 to 1997. She was Program Developer at the Asian Law Caucus from 1989 to 1992. 

None of the appointments require legislative approval. California Gov. Gavin Newsom also named four other civil rights activists  to the commission Tuesday. They are:

Brian Levin, 58, of Orange County, has been Founding Director at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and a Professor at the California State University, San Bernardino School of Criminology and Criminal Justice since 1999. 

He was a Professor at Stockton University from 1996 to 1999. Levin was Associate Director of Legal Affairs of the Klanwatch/Militia Task Force at the Southern Poverty Law Center from 1995 to 1996. He is a member of the California Association of Human Relations Organizations and an organizational representative to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Human Rights. Levin earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. 

Bamby Salcedo, 53, of Los Angeles, has been President and Chief Executive Officer at the TransLatin@ Coalition since 2015. 

She was HIV and Health Education Services Project Coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles from 2007 to 2015. Salcedo was Transgender Harm Reduction Project Coordinator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles from 2007 to 2009. She held several positions at Transgeneros Unidas at Bienestar Human Services LA from 2002 to 2009, including Program Manager, Program Lead and Community Health Specialist. Salcedo was Peer Coordinator at Tarzana Treatment Centers from 2001 to 2002. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Latinx Studies from California State University, Los Angeles. 

Shirin Sinnar, 45, of Palo Alto, has been a Professor at Stanford Law School since 2012, where she has been John A. Wilson Faculty Scholar since 2015. She was Staff Attorney at the Asian Law Caucus from 2006 to 2009. Sinnar was a Law Clerk for the Honorable Warren J. Ferguson at the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals from 2003 to 2004. 

She is a member of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy Editorial Board and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sinnar earned a Master of Philosophy degree in international relations from Cambridge University and Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. 

Erroll G. Southers, 65, of Los Angeles, has been Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance at the University of Southern California since 2022, Adjunct Staff at the RAND Corporation since 2017, an Advisor at Avata Intelligence since 2013 and Managing Director at TAL Global Corporation since 2010. 

Southers held several positions at the University of Southern California from 2003 to 2022, including Professor of Practice in National and Homeland Security, Director of International Programs, Adjunct Professor and Associate Director of Research and Transition. He was Assistant Chief of Police commanding the Office of Homeland Security and Intelligence at Los Angeles World Airports from 2007 to 2010. Southers was Deputy Director for the Protection of Critical Infrastructure at the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security from 2004 to 2006. 

Southers was also a Special Agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1984 to 1988. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree and a Doctor of Policy, Planning and Development degree from the University of Southern California.

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

 

Stop AAPI Hate:11,500 anti-Asian incidents over a span of two years; no signs of a slowdown of attacks

Two years of being the target of hate has done little to slow the attacks aginst Asian Americans. According to a new report, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 11,500 hate incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate.

Stop AAPI Hate released a new report, Two Years and Thousands of Voices, which provides deeper insight into the racism and discrimination the AAPI community has faced since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“Our self-reported data shows that if you’re only watching the news, you aren’t getting the full picture of what AAPIs are experiencing,” said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. “AAPIs are verbally harassed in grocery stores and shops, on the street and on public transit. We have a right to be treated with dignity and respect.”

The incidents of hate which coincided with the start of pandemic increased as officials in the Trump administration used ethnic slurs to link the coronavirus with China. Historians and social scientists point out the anti-Asian hate has been part and parcel of American history but in recent years the bias appeared to die down because of the growing awareness and the social stigmas associated with racism and discrimination.

The pandemic and the Trump administration lifted the lid on the tamped-down bias and emboldened racist to unleash the anti-Asian sentiment.

The report released Wednesday (July 20) looks at the nearly 11,500 hate incidents reported to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022, and includes findings from a 2021 national survey Stop AAPI Hate conducted in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence.

"Key findings of Two Years and Thousands of Voices" include:

• Non-criminal incidents comprise the vast majority of the harmful hate incidents that AAPI community members experience.

• Harassment is a major problem. Two in three (67%) of nearly 11,500 incidents involved harassment, such as verbal or written hate speech or inappropriate gestures.

• AAPI individuals who are also female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, and/or elderly experience hate incidents that target them for more than one of their identities at once.

• One in three (32%) parents who participated in the Stop AAPI Hate/Edelman Data & Intelligence survey were concerned about their child being a victim of anti-AAPI hate or discrimination in unsupervised spaces and on the way to school.

• Hate happens everywhere — in both large cities and small towns, in AAPI enclaves and in places where AAPI communities are few and far between.

The more serous incidents resulted in physical attacks that caused the death of someone such as the mass shooting at Asian spas in the Atlanta area, the vicious attacks against elderly AAPI that knock them unconscious; or crimes resulting in robbery or assault but not legally called a hate crime but seen as crimes of opportunity.

However, most of the reported incidents were in the form of harassment, such as a report from Marin County, California:

“I was emptying my trash into a public trash can at a rest stop and a man walked towards me asked me where my mask was, shoved me back and said if anyone should be wearing a mask it is people like you. He mocked by pulling his eyes back to resemble slant eye and bowed to me.” 

Incidents that witnesses might shrug off have traumatic impacts on the victim such as a Connecticut report: “I walked into a discount store where I saw a woman conversing with another person; when she got in line at a register to purchase her food, she was stopped and the person working the register called her slurs, then a virus, and then refused to check her out.” 

Recommendations

The report also lays out Stop AAPI Hate’s approach to addressing anti-AAPI hate: education equity, community-driven safety solutions and civil rights expansion.

“Even as people move on past the COVID-19 pandemic, AAPIs continue to be harassed because of their race,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “The AAPI community is tired of being afraid. We want solutions that actually make a difference and focus on prevention.”

“While our focus is understanding hate against AAPI’s, we know that hate is on the rise for many groups including the Black, Latinix, Muslim, LGBTQ+ communities,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “It is why we need to work together to address root causes of racism and prevent incidents before they happen.”

Stop AAPI Hate is calling on elected officials to further their efforts to: 

• Stop the harassment of AAPIs and protect our civil rights by introducing legislation like No Place for Hate California, which will address hate where it happens: in spaces open and accessible to the public;

• Educate the public about AAPI histories and cultures by making ethnic studies a standard part of the K-12 curriculum; and invest in community-based programs to support the healing of victims and survivors, and to prevent violence before it starts.

• Hate incidents included in the report point to the prevalence of harassment, and the need for elected officials to take action. Incidents have been edited for grammar, length and clarity:

The Stop AAPI Hate coalition encourages any member of the AAPI community who has experienced hate during the pandemic to report the incident at: https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/.

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

Study: AANHPI elderly most vulnerable to hate

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.

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.'"

Local, state and federal agencies need to recognize the problem facing AANHPI seniors and adjust their services accordingly, says the report.

That includes translation services for the myriad of Asian languages, culturally sensitive staff who can recognize the mental health and physical symptoms caused by stress and who can offer the "respect" the elders deserve.

“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.”

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

@StopAAPIhate reports 11,000 incidents of hate against AAPI since the beginning of the pandemic

 

A week before the March 12 first anniversary of the devastating Atlanta spa shooting, Stop AAPI Hate released its latest national report containing nearly 11,000 self-reported hate incidents alongside recommendations for policymakers on how to address the hate experienced by AAPI communities.

“AAPI communities across the country have experienced enormous amounts of pain and suffering, particularly the families of the victims of the Atlanta spa shooting,” said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. 

The latest number of self-reported anti-AAPI hate incidents to Stop AAPI Hate, — a national coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) discrimination -- indicates the attacks are continuing raising fear in the AAPI community and frustrating law enforcement and government officials.

Law enforcement and community advocates believe the number of hate crimes are severely underreported because of the victims don't bother to report the incidents.

Last year, on March 16, a man murdered eight people in Atlanta across three Asian-run businesses. Six of those who died were Asian American women. As the country reckons with lessons learned since the tragedy, Stop AAPI Hate is releasing its latest self-reported incident count to continue to raise awareness of the high levels of hate AAPIs face, to encourage other AAPIs to continue to report incidents, and to call on lawmakers to partner with the coalition and other AAPI organizations in creating programs that will prevent further incidents and support victims. 

Stop AAPI Hate will further be marking the anniversary by supporting the efforts of AAPI communities in Atlanta, where local organizations are holding an in-person community remembrance on March 12.

Stop AAPI Hate’s new report indicates that it has received a total of 10,905 reports of hate incidents against AAPIs across the U.S. between March 19, 2020 and December 31, 2021, with 535 incidents happening from October to December 2021 alone.

• Verbal harassment (63.0%) continues to make up the biggest share of total incidents reported.

• Physical assault (16.2%) comprises the second largest category of total reported incidents followed by the deliberate avoidance of AAPIs (16.1%).

• Almost half (48.7%) of all hate incidents took place in public spaces —- in public streets (31.2%), public transit (8.4%), and public parks (8.0%).

• Hate incidents reported by women make up 61.8% of all reports.

• For the first time the report includes disaggregated data from non-binary AAPI respondents. It shows that they experience more deliberate avoidance or shunning (21.4%), being coughed at or spat on (13.9%), denial of service (8.3%) and online harassment (12.1%) than AAPI women and men.

• Civil rights violations — e.g., workplace discrimination, refusal of service, being barred from transportation, and housing-related discrimination — account for 11.5% of total incidents.

• Chinese Americans continue to report the most hate incidents (42.8%) of all ethnic groups, followed by Korean (16.1%), P/Filipinx (8.9%), Japanese (8.2%), and Vietnamese Americans (8.0%).

STOP AAPI HATE

The report also provides gender-specific descriptions of hate incidents for AAPI women (6,506), AAPI men (3,290) and AAPI non-binary people (356). Non-binary people include individuals who self-identified as gender non-binary and gender non-conforming.

Key findings related to gender:

• AAPI women report more harassment (69.8%) than AAPI men (63.0%) and AAPI non-binary people (56.3%).

• A higher percentage of hate incidents experienced by AAPI women occurred in public streets (34.5%), compared to AAPI men (32.1%) and AAPI non-binary people (29.5%).

• Higher percentages of hate incidents experienced by AAPI non-binary people occurred online (13.9%), at school (11.8%) and at university or college (7.8%).

• Higher percentages of AAPI women (19.1%) and AAPI non-binary people (23.1%) identified gender/gender identity as one reason for discrimination compared to AAPI men (5.5%).

“The new report underscores the importance of continuing to report and raise visibility of anti-AAPI hate, which unfortunately continues to be ongoing,” Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “But as painful as sharing our experiences with racism are, it also has allowed us to not be marginalized or dismissed. We must continue to share and report them in order to advocate for investments that will truly make our communities safe. ”

Stop AAPI Hate received reports of incidents from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They include the following first-hand accounts:

I was walking to school when a woman stuck her head out of her window and started screeching racial slurs at me. She called me a c—k, a b—h, and told me to go back to my country and go to hell. I told her to have a nice day and tried to walk away. She found me on a different street then stuck her middle finger out at me. (Burlingame, CA)

I used to be a bagger at a grocery store and an elderly woman did not want me to bag her groceries because I am Filipino. She asked the cashier if me and my coworker were Filipino and then said she wanted someone else to bag her groceries because, “Filipinos are more likely to have COVID.” (Fort Walton Beach, FL)

I was standing in front of my workplace when a couple walked by and the man started yelling “Ch-ng!” I asked him to stop and we began arguing. His female companion stood to my right and also began yelling, “Ch-ng” at me then sprayed pepper spray into my eyes. (New York City, NY)

During a book club discussion by a city-run Asian American organization, a group of Zoom bombers entered. Even though they were removed by hosts, the last Zoom bomber was able to get in “Ch-ng Ch-ng” noises before they were removed. They tried to re-enter using fake Asian identities that they used to get the Zoom link originally. (Austin, TX)

READ the full report from Stop AAPI Hate.

The report also highlights recommendations for policymakers to address experiences with hate in their communities. These include policies from Stop AAPI Hate’s recently released California State Policy Recommendations to Address AAPI Hate platform, which can be adopted in states around the country. Its recommendations include creating a statewide framework to prevent street harassment, taking a gender-based approach to rider safety on public transit, and strengthening civil rights protections against hate at businesses.

Stop AAPI Hate also urges states to invest in community-based efforts for supporting victims and survivors of hate. States including California and New York have allocated funds to be spent through AAPI community organizations that provide victims and survivors with the mental health and other support that they need.

Finally, Stop AAPI Hate is also supporting efforts across the country to address anti-AAPI hate through education. Education is one of the most effective tools against racism, and implicit bias is learned early. Asian American studies programs promote racial empathy and solidarity, while decreasing bullying and harassment in schools, helping AAPI students thrive. 

States around the country, including Illinois and New Jersey, have passed legislation for Asian American studies. Stop AAPI Hate is working with national organizations, educators, policymakers and other experts on creating Asian American studies frameworks for states to adopt and follow.

The report from Stop AAPI Hate comes days after a report with similar findings was released by NAPAWF. The State of Safety for Asian American and Pacific Islander Women in the U.S.. which found that 74% of AAPI women have experienced discrimination or an attack during 2021.

The Stop AAPI Hate coalition encourages any member of the AAPI community who has experienced hate during the pandemic to report the incident at: https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/.

“It’s alarming to see these numbers stacking up because they are absolutely preventable,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “We urge state lawmakers to review and implement our policy recommendations and work with us to invest in all of our communities and stop anti-AAPI hate.”

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

Has anti-Asian hate become "normal" for media? life is uneasy as attacks continue against AAPI

A new national survey found that one in five Asian Americans (21.2%) and Pacific Islanders (20%) have experienced a hate incident the past year. With about 23 million AAPI in the US, that translates to over 4.8 million Asian Americans and 320,000 Pacific Islanders. 

The report by Stop AAPI Hate says the community-based initiative, has collected over 10,000 self-reported incidents since the start of the pandemic in March, 2020.

The outrage generated by the thousands of attacks -- verbal, physical and emotional -- against people of Asian descent have all but disappeared off the newspaper front pages and no longer garner the lead item on TV news, but the incidents of hate appear to be continuing unabated.

The annual FBI report on hate crimes found that hate crimes, in general, have risen 13% in the pst year, but hate crimes against AAPI have skyrocketed by 73%

In Washington, D.C., hate crime reports were actually down in the latest reports. But they're up significantly in Virginia -- and they've doubled in Maryland. Maryland this week launched an initiative to combat the anti-Asian incidents. The Maryland initiative follows similar state-sponsored efforts in New York and California.

The rise in anti-Asian incidents continue despite President Biden's executive orders for the federal government to take steps to stem the surge of hate.

Almost everyday there is a new report of an AAPI being attacked, harassed, bullied or shunned.

• Earlier this month, Sunisa Lee, the Olympic gymnastic gold medalist, was pepper sprayed by drivers passing by while standing on a Los Angeles sidewalk.

• An 84-year old man was attacked at a San Francisco ATM, smashed in the face with a glass bottle and robbed of his cash.

• With no place to escape, passengers on public transit (subways and buses) are vulnerable to attacks where they edure verbal abuse, suffer physical attacks and spat upon. 

• Asian-operated businesses across the nation are frequently vandalized with racist graffiti, smashed windows or unruly customers telling them to "go back home."

• In a separate study, Los Angeles Human Relations Commission reported a 76% increase in hate crimes against AAPI in L.A. County.

• By last summer, New York City experienced a 395% increases in anti-Asian legally defined hate crimes in 2021 compared to all of 2020. 

An Asian-owned business in Texas is targeted with graffiti.

The attacks are so numerous that mainstream news media don't consider them newsworthy. They are considered a normal part of American life, circa 2021. 

Most of the attacks occur in public areas, according to the Stop AAPI Hate's latest report followed by incidents at work. Other findings of their report issued today (Nov. 18), include:

• Verbal harassment (62.9%) and shunning (16.3%) — the deliberate avoidance of AAPIs — continue to make up the biggest share of total incidents reported.

• A majority of incidents take place in spaces open to the public. Public streets (31.2% of incidents) and businesses (26.8% of incidents) remain the top sites of anti-AAPI hate.

• Hate incidents reported by women make up 62% of all reports.

• AA respondents with a high school education are experiencing twice the rate of hate incidents (41.2%) compared to those with at least some college education (19.8%) and those with a BA or higher degree (13.8%).

• One in three Asian American parents (30.6%) and Pacific Islander parents (31.4%) report that their child experienced a hate incident at school.

• 31.5% of Asian Americans and 26.4% of Pacific Islanders report experiencing a hate incident at work.

“It’s tragic but not surprising that Asian Americans with lower education levels are experiencing more hate,” says Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “Anti-Asian hate is tied to systemic racism against our community. Stopping hate is not about quick fixes like law enforcement but about deeper investment in our communities.”

The anti-Asian attacks are manifestations of the hate spewed on the Internet. An analysis by anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label and Brandwatch, report 263 million online conversations in the UK and U.S. on social media sites, blogs and forums has found that hate speech increased dramatically between 2019 and mid-2021, roughly corresponding to the pandemic's discovery and growth.

An analysis released this month, found that of 263 million online conversations in the United Kingdom and U.S. on social media sites, blogs and forums has found that hate speech increased dramatically between 2019 and mid-2021. 

Before the COVID-19 started to spread, the level of both online hate speech discussion and actual reported hate crimes remained fairly consistent. However, since the start of the pandemic, the study found that online hate speech increased by 38%. 

Based on the analysis, there was a 28% rise in ethnicity-based and racist hate speech in the UK and US, and a 22% rise in the number of online discussions of violent threats, with a new post about race or ethnicity-based hate speech every 1.7 seconds on average, reports Forbes magazine.

The most notable finding was a rise of 1,662% in anti-Asian hate speech in 2020 compared with 2019. This peaked with the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, with Trump-inspired references to the virus as the "China virus" or "kung flu."

Slurs and tropes, with racist, sexist and homophobic terms were the most common forms of online hate speech. The second commonest was violent threats, most likely to occur on forums. 

Although the study lacked the data to conclude that  there exists a definite "relationship between the pandemic and the rate of online hate," says Ditch the Label CEO Liam Hackett. "It is clear from this report that online hate speech has reached an all-time high and, to some communities, is at an unbearable extreme." 

And this online hate appears to be triggering attacks in public. "In the U.S., it seems that the peak for incidents of hate crimes occurred prior to the peak for hate speech discussions and examples of hate speech online. However, the UK hate speech conversation spiked first followed by a more steady rise in hate crimes," the researchers say.

"That reported hate crime and online discussion around hate speech rose roughly in tandem in both countries suggests a troubling link between online words and ‘real-world’ action," says the study.

“When it comes to stopping anti-Asian hate, our elected leaders should be responsive to the Asian American community,” says Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. “Locally and nationally, they must make real investments in civil rights, community resources and education.”

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

Stop AAPI Hate co-founders make Time magazine's most influential people

Of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world are 26 Asian or Asian American..

Asian Americans' influence and impact was unmistakeable with poet  Cathy Park Hong gracing one of seven magazine covers.that will be released worldwide.

Because of the surge in anti-Asian attacks, TIME includes the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate: Cynthia Choi, Manjusha Kulkarni and Russell Jeung.The community based organization's collection of racist incidents made media and government to realize the enormity and how prevalent the attacks have become. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Stop AAPI Hate reports that over 9000 hate incidents were reported.

For TIME's full list of the 100 most influential people, click here.

“It is a great honor to be recognized for this award among this list of influential leaders,“ said Kulkarni. “This work would not be possible without the bravery and strength of our respondents and the AAPI community at large, and we want to thank them for their willingness to speak out against injustice."

Vice President Kamala Harris, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other world leaders were repeats  on the prestigious list.  

But it was a first-time honor to be included on the list. Among them were athletes the Angels' Shohei Ohtani, tennis player Naomi Osaka and Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee, Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao, Saturday Night Live's Bown Yang, actor Steven Yeun, along with other innovators, authors, researchers and activists.

Besides the 26 Asians and Asian Americans on the list, the 18th annual list of influential people includes 10 climate leaders, dozens of advocates, political leaders, 54 women and the youngest featured in the issues is 18-year-old Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee. The oldest person in this year's list is 78-year-old President Joe Biden.

“At TIME, we see the TIME100 as far more than a list,” Edward Felsenthal, said TIME's CEO and editor in chief. “It is a community of leaders whose energy and commitment we hope inspires others to spring into action as well.”

The full list and related tributes appear in the Sept. 27 / Oct. 4 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, Sept. 17.

ABC will air a special about the selection of the Top 100 on Sept. 20, 10 p.m. The special offers an inside look at the pioneers, artists, leaders, icons, titans and innovators comprising the coveted 2021 list, along with special performances and surprises. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more commentary, observations, tips and references, follow me on Twitter @dioknoed

Biden to make a statement against anti-Asian bias, xenophobia

UPDATED Jan. 26, 20:30 a.m. to reflect this morning's press briefing confirming the President's executive orders.

The growing problem of anti-Asian bias and hate crimes  against Asian Americans is going to be addressed Tuesday, Jan. 26, by President Joe Biden.

"America has never lived up to its founding promise of equality for all, but we've never stopped trying. Today, I'll take action to advance racial equity and push us closer to that more perfect union we've always strived to be," the President tweeted Tuesday morning.

Biden will sign an executive order that aims to counter the rise in hate crimes, U.S. and China and the anti-Asian rhetoric used by the Donald Trump administration that is occurring in a unsettled social environment of emboldened white supremacists.

Biden will sign the executive order Tuesday afternoon, dubbed Equity Day, according to the South China Morning News in a story picked up by U.S. news outlets late Monday.

At this morning's press briefing, White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice  confirmed the Presidential memos that Biden will sign later in the day will center around racial justice and equity.

The President's memo will combat xenophobia against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. 

The memo directs the Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Biden COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, to consider issuing guidance describing best practices to advance cultural competency, language access, and sensitivity towards AAPIs in the federal government’s COVID-19 response. 

It also directs the Department of Justice to partner with AAPI communities to prevent hate crimes and harassment against AAPIs.

It is also reported by the South China Morning News that he will also use the occasion to end the Department of Justice's China Initiative that targeted Chinese researchers, students and scientists who were allegedly stealing intellectual property for China.

“The community is reacting to the immediate threat before them. They feel besieged because of the mass investigations … Trump’s rhetoric and the spike in hate crimes,” sthe SCMN quoted Aryani Ong, an Asian American rights activist and former civil rights lawyer. “This organizing represents an effort to stand up and announce that Asian Americans belong in the U.S. and deserve to have their rights protected.”

Chinese American organizations have been campaigning against the initiative, which they claim encourages racial profiling, sweeping up innocent people because of their Chinese ancestry, a spike of hate confirmed by the FBI.

Although the initiative has resulted in some arrests and prison time for those found guilty, the work has also swept up some Chinese Americans who were innocent of the allegations but lost their jobs, studies ended or had their reputation ruined because of the perceived connection with Chinese efforts to secure U.S. technology and research.

Since the coronavirus hit the U.S. shores, Trump began referring to he virus as the "China Virus," the "Wuhan Flu" or "Kung Flu" and the incidents of hate have increased dramatically.

The use of the racist phrases "China by top administration officials, led by Trump, has coincided with a surge in discrimination against Asian-Americans, according to a new study.

According to community groups that have been collecting data, since the pandemic began, there have been about 3,000 reports of hate incidents against Asian Americans.

One study by University of California professors, as well as the Tulane School of Medicine, found that years of hate incidents of against Asian Americans were trending downward until this past year.

It also found that bias toward Asian Americans "declined steadily from 2007 through early 2020 but reversed trend and began to increase on March 8, following the increase in stigmatizing language in conservative media outlets," according to the study's abstract.

The executive order will address equity in providing the COVID-19 vaccines to those communities of color, the most reluctant to receive the immunization shots, housing according to CBS. Biden will also suggest changes in terminology that may be outdated, derisive or inaccurate -- such as "model minority" or "illegal alins."

 "The idea that the president of the United States is not going to be hostile and not be a super spreader of hate is incredible," Cynthia Choi, an executive director of the group Stop AAPI Hate, told CBS News. "I hope this order reverses the damage caused under the Trump administration, which used federal dollars and resources to create a hostile climate and led to backlash directed toward our community."

WATCH FOR IT: Views From the Edge will write a separate story about the President's actions this afternoon.

Sunday Read: Attacks against Asian Americans continue to rise, near 2000 incidents, says report

As of mid-May the number of attacks, harassment and abuse aimed at Asian Americans is approaching 2000 in the two months since a record of those incidents started being tracked.

While most of the incidents appear to be random spontaneous acts of hate, a few. of them, including the stabbing attacks against a Burmese American father and his two young children, were premeditated.

EXAMPLE #1: 

In multiple incidents, an elderly woman spitting out racial slurs at Asian Americans in a park in Torrance, Calif. resulted in a counterdemonstration when scores of AAPI made an appearance at the park to exercise.

Police identified the woman as Lena Hernandez, 56, last week and spoke to her Wednesday, but no arrests were made despite the videos of her tirades were viewed over a million times resulting in a public outcry.

"Based on the fact all three incidents are misdemeanor crimes and did not occur in the presence of an officer, Hernandez was not arrested at the time of the interview," police said. "The details of the interview will be submitted to the City of Torrance Prosecutors office."

Maintaining social distancing, scores of AAPI went to the Torrance Park to exercise.

Stop AAPI Hate, the leading aggregator of incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic, has compiled a new report examining the rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans and the anti-Chinese rhetoric by political leaders. 

“We have seen time and again how dangerous it is when leaders scapegoat for political gain and use inflammatory rhetoric to stir up both interpersonal violence and racist policies. As we’ve seen throughout American history — from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to Japanese American wartime incarceration and most recently, immigration bans—Asians have been targeted with such vehement hate.” said Dr. Russell Jeung, chair of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. 

Last week, Stop AAPI Hate reported that as of May 13, incidents of anti-Asian American discrimination documented across the U.S. approached 1,900 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Of those incidents, approximately 502 incidents specifically mentioned the terms “China” or “Chinese” during the incidents of discrimination. 

According to the report, it appears that there was a spike of incidents reported to the website after Donald Trump, after a respite of several weeks, has returned to using the incorrect term, “Chinese Virus” when referring to Covid-19 inflaming his followers.

Last Saturday at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump revived the term along with "Kung-Flu," is his speech in front of his cheering supporters.

There are a number of variables that could explain this correlation; nonetheless, Stop AAPI Hate contends that Trump's and the GOP’s anti-Chinese rhetoric have entrenched racism and xenophobia in the public’s perception of the coronavirus pandemic.

EXAMPLE #2: 

A man painting "Black Lives Matter" on his front retaining wall in San Francisco was approached by a white couple jogging by assumed that the Filipino American was  defacing someone else's hose in the upscale neighborhood. 

As it turns out, the man has been living at the address for 18 years, videotaped the "polite racism." Police responded to the white couple's 911 call and recognized the Filipino American as the legal resident, waved and left without any further incident.

Although the white couple later apologized after the video went viral.

A white woman cals 911 against a Filiipino American resident in a posh San Francisco neighborhood.

Recent news reports have drawn the conclusion that Trump and other political leaders are stirring up anti-Chinese sentiment as a means to distract from both their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide protests against deeply entrenched racism and violence against Black Americans in law enforcement. 

“We condemn the racist, inciteful and violent rhetoric coming from the president and political leaders at the very top, who racialize tragedies to score political points and distract from their own mishandling of the pandemic," said Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action.  

"This rhetoric continues to devastate and harm communities of color in America.” 

In turn, the president is currently pouring money into campaign ads against China. On April 17, the GOP sent a memo to campaigns stating that: 

1. China caused the virus by covering it up, 
2. Democrats are “soft on China”, and 
3. Republicans will push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading the virus. 

Other government leaders are picking up Trump’s racist language—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) have used similar language. 

Senator Martha McSally, up for re-election, recently said, “China is to blame for this pandemic and the death of thousands of Americans.” 

Most significantly, last month the president introduced a ban limiting Chinese students in the United States, raising concerns from a number of Asian American leaders. 

In its report on the 502 incidents of discrimination and harassment with a clear link to anti-Chinese sentiment, Stop AAPI Hate noted that the following trends emerged: 

• Virulent animosity towards Chinese, with 37.5% of these cases laced with profanity and verbal taunts 
• Scapegoating of China for the spread of Covid-19, with 31.7% of the perpetrators blaming China or Chinese people as the source of the disease 
• Anti-immigrant nationalism of the assailants as they demand that Asian Americans “go back to China” or view China as the enemy (20.3%) 
• Parroting of the term, “Chinese virus” to imply the implicit association between Covid-19 and China (17.5%) 
• Orientalist and racist depictions of China and Chinese people as dirty, diseased, and holding strange dietary habits (12.6%) 

Trump "continues to utilize white supremacist and nationalist views as a means of scapegoating his failures for political gain," said Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. 

"Unless we hold him accountable, the discrimination and harassment against Asian Americans will become deeply entrenched, cause unimaginable harm and suffering, and take decades to unwind.”