Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States have increased by 1,900%. As we get closer to the Lunar New Year, Asians are being specifically targeted in violent attacks, robberies, and even murders. They are the most targeted group in the Bay Area, one of the most Asian-populated areas in America, but these hate crimes are occurring all over the country. Per the Stop AAPI Hate Youth Campaign, one in every four Asian Americans has experienced anti-Asian hate amidst this pandemic. This is insane. 

This racism, however, is not new. It’s just constantly normalized or overlooked. Asian Americans have been working hard and contributing to this country since the 1800s without publicly voicing their struggles along the way. 

“For far too long, Asian Americans have been told they are the model minority and they have proximity to whiteness, which is a dangerous excuse to mean that violence against our bodies isn’t considered racist,” says David Yi, the founder of “Very Good Light” and an advocate for inclusion in the media. 

The media fails to cover the increasing number of violent hate crimes towards the Asian community. If you are not Asian, it is likely you will not know about any of this. In the past week alone, an 84-year-old Thai man was pushed and killed while walking on a sidewalk in Oakland, a 64-year-old Vietnamese-American woman was assaulted and robbed in broad daylight in San Jose, a 61-year-old Filipino-American was slashed in the face with a box cutter while on the subway, and 9 Asian-owned businesses had their windows smashed in Oregon. 

In January of 2021 alone, some of the many hate crimes towards Asian Americans include:

Jan 16:

• $10,000 worth of cash, equipment, and special documents (SSNs, banking info, diplomas) were stolen from a family-owned Korean restaurant in San Francisco

Jan 29:

• An Asian man was robbed at gunpoint outside his home in Oakland
• An Asian woman had her wallet stolen in Oakland’s Chinatown
• An Asian woman was dragged and ran over by a car while fighting for her belongings after someone illegally stole her car outside her own nail salon

Jan 31: 

• One man shoved a 91-year-old man to the ground in Oakland Chinatown, attacked a 60-year-old man, and assaulted a 55-year-old woman, leaving her unconscious.

These racists are attacking the elderly because they are more “vulnerable.” The Asian American community is now doing all they can to protect their elders. Asian elders usually love going on walks outside, but because of these recent crimes targeting the Asian elderly, family members of these elders have to urge their loved ones to stay home for the next few weeks. Blaming Asian AMERICANS for Covid-19 is sickening, and blaming an entire ethnic group for its development is not just dangerously ignorant, it’s blatantly disgusting. 

Violent hate crimes in L.A. hit their highest level in more than a decade and white supremacists acts have jumped by 38%. Asian Americans are facing xenophobic hate crimes at an all-time high and they are considered the third most targeted group, following Black Americans and Jewish Americans. 

White people will never experience what it’s like to be discriminated against by their skin color, but coming from a minority, it is horrible. Racism causes many individuals to feel as though their identity is irrelevant and they may try to hide it instead of embracing it. This should not be happening, but because it is, I, as a person of color and member of the Asian American community, urge you to treat everyone equally because we are all human. Skin color does not define an individual, their actions do. We are regular people, just like you, who are trying to make the best out of these current situations. Asian Americans are moms, dads, neighbors, classmates, essential workers, and again, people. Promote equality, not division. Spread love, not hate. People of color are no different than white people, and they matter just as much.