Stop Asian Hate: You Should Know Everything About Asian American Hate and Racism

In this article, we are going to answer all the questions related to Stop Asian Hate.

What is Stop Asian Hate?

Stop Asian Hate is the Anti-Asian-Violence Movement which has been held across the United States in 2021 because of racism against Asian Americans due to Covid-19.

Why is there Hate Against Asian Americans?

The first COVID-19 case was reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China that has led to an increased amount of racism against Asians and Asian Americans. 

In the United States, Chinese, Indian, and Filipino Americans make up the largest share of the Asian American population with 5 million, 4.3 million, and 4 million people respectively.

People are targeting Asian Americans by saying that they are responsible for the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Why Stop Asian Hate Trending?

Stop Asian Hate is in the wake of a series of shootings at three Atlanta spas that killed eight people, six of whom were Asian American women. 21-year-old white American named Robert Aaron Long shot dead eight people in three spas in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Six women of Asian descent are also among those killed. However, the movement first began to gain momentum after the killing of Vicha Ratanpakadi about two months ago.

Is Stop Asian Hate all about Mass shootings?

Several attacks on people of Asian origin have been reported throughout the US in the same week when the Georgia Spa shootout occurred. A day after the Georgia incident, a 75-year-old woman was brutally assaulted in San Francisco. On March 21, in three separate incidents, a 54-year-old was hospitalized after being attacked, a 41-year-old was attacked from behind and a 37-year-old was assaulted on her way to an anti-Asian violence protest.

What is the Root Cause Behind Asian American Hate/Racism? 

Many people say that American Ex-President Donald Trump’s statements like “The Chinese Virus”, “The Wuhan Virus”, “Kung Flu”, etc. are the reason behind Asian American Hate.

But the root cause behind Asian Hate/racism is far years back

Asian Americans have actually suffered violence and scapegoating for many years. In fact, racism and violence against the Asian American community are as old as the U.S. itself.

To understand the root of the issue, we have to go back 236 years to 1785. That’s when the first documented Chinese immigrants “three sailors to be exact” arrived in Maryland. Fast-forward five years and the Naturalization Act of 1790 was put in place to restrict citizenship for anyone who wasn’t “a free white person”.

This meant that Asian people had inferior legal status compared to white people, it’s also why they couldn’t own property or vote.

In 1849, the California gold rush attracted hundreds of thousands of miners from around the world, including China.  

By 1852, over 20,000 Chinese immigrants had made San Francisco their home. Most of them were miners. But with their rapidly growing population, many Chinese Americans suffered violence and discrimination from fellow miners and also from the government. For example, California was quick to impose a Foreign Miners Tax, which meant immigrants had to pay $3 a month for simply mining.

At that time, Chinese immigrants were robbed and murdered and were set up as scapegoats for other crimes.

By 1870, Chinese miners in California had contributed more than $5 million to the Foreign Miners Tax. It was almost one-quarter of the state’s revenue at the time. A year later, mob attacks and lynchings of Asian Americans erupted in Los Angeles. Five hundred white and Latino people attacked a Chinese community and killed 19 people seventeen of them were lynched. None of the killers were punished. All this tension and violence eventually led to the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.

It was the first time in United States history when Congress outlawed immigration for a specific nationality. In the years that followed, dozens of Chinese immigrants were killed in violent attacks. White mobs accused Chinese migrants of taking jobs from them.

In 1900, the bubonic plague, which emerged in South Central China, hit the U.S. with the first case recorded in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Chinese Americans suffered racism and harassment with the spread of the disease. And systematic racism against Asian Americans continued well into the 20^th century.

As more people from other parts of Asia began immigrating to the U.S. and filling up jobs in the industrial economy, the Asiatic Barred  Zone Act was put in the place in 1917 to prevent Indians, Japanese, Koreans, and other Asians from immigrating.

And then in 1941, The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the empire of Japan. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in World War II, the U.S. forced thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps, claiming there were spies among them. Relocation centers were hurriedly built, principally in the western states to house some 100,000 Issei Japanese-born aliens, and Nisei, Americans-born U.S. citizens of Japanese parenting.

People suffered poor living conditions and had to live in internment until the war was over. No spies were ever found.

Things began changing in the mid-60s.

In 1965, President Lyndon B. Jhonson signed an order called the Hart-Celler Act, which removed racist barriers to entry for many groups, including Asians. But that didn’t end Asian Americans' racism.

Just like in the 19^th century, in the 1980s, Asian Americans were again being blamed for taking away jobs-this time, in the auto industry. The vilification escalated to the point that it resulted in the murder of the 27-year-old Vincent chin, who was killed by two white autoworkers in Michigan. While the two men were ordered to pay a $3,000 fine, neither of them spent a single day in jail for the murder.

Fast-forward 20 years to 2003: This week saw the galloping rise of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome. And as new cases emerge, quarantines expand and the disease spreads to North America, the consequence is multiplying. Asian Americans faced harassment and were discriminated against with the rise of the RARS virus, which had originated in China.

Almost another 20 years later and we’re now seeing a surge in violence against Asian Americans again – amid fearmongering over the COVID pandemic.

Anti-Asian hate crimes like attacks on elders and vandalism increased by almost 150% in major cities in 2020 alone. Racism against the community spiked after Trump and Other Republicans repeatedly called COVID-19 racist names like “Wuhan virus” or “Kung flu.”

Donald Trump: “we begin by announcing some important developments in our war against the Chinese virus.” But Trump and Republicans aren’t the only ones to blame.

 Joe Biden: “We will take on the challenges posed by our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor: China.”

A liberal leader like Joe Biden has also been feeding into the rhetoric with Cold War talk painting China as a threat to Americans.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China.” All this rhetoric, ultimately, has a negative impact on the Asian American community in the United States, further casting them as ‘the other.’

Dismantling white supremacy means understanding the history of how we got here in the first place, rejecting U.S. imperialism and aggression towards other countries, rejecting increased policing and surveillance, and destroying the system in place, and dreaming up alternatives to community safety and how we are in a relationship with one another.

How to Stop Asian Hate?

• If you are witnessing any crime or racism against Asians, then report on the Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s site Stand Against Hatred, the Stop AAPI Hate tracker, or file a report with your local FBI field office. You should speak out if you witness a hate crime or incident.
• If you see hatred, racism, and misinformation against Asians, then inform them about this.
• Check-in on your AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) friends and family.
• Address harmful behavior with friends, family, or co-workers.
• You can order food from Asian-run restaurants. We need to stand with Asian American community and support their local businesses.
• Raising and sharing hate stories to raise awareness about anti-Asian incidents.
• Speak up when you hear micro-aggressions. 
• You can raise your voice through social media by following prominent Asian American voices such as Amalada Nguyen, Liz Kleinrock, David Yee, and Michelle Kim.
• Taking an active role in combating racism in your community, download the free Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit.
• Become a Conscious Audience - Learn proactive strategies to effectively and strategically intervene when you see someone being verbally or physically disturbed by the Holbach!

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