Written by Kelly Cotter, Posted by Tim McCue.
Over the past year there has been more Asian American Hate Crimes in America. This is because of two things:
– some Americans believe that Asians are to blame for COVID-19.
– the virus originated from China.
Many people blame Asian Americans for the pandemic.
People know more about Anti-Asian hate crimes because of the recent shooting in Georgia. 6 Asian American women were targeted and killed.
Anti-Asian racism has been around for a long time.
In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by Congress. This Act banned Chinese people from immigrating to America. This caused more Asian American hate crimes.
In World War 2, a lot of people blamed Japanese Americans for Japanese Imperialism. After Pearl Habor, about 120,000 Japanese Americans, were put in Japanese Internment Camps in the United States. Most of the prisoners were American citizens.
The Pew Research Center says that 3 out of every 10 Asian Americans has had a racial slur said to them since the pandemic (https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/07/01/many-black-and-asian-americans-say-they-have-experienced-discrimination-amid-the-covid-19-outbreak/).
We must do better to support Asian Americans. Here are things you can do to help.
1. Talk about Asian American issues. Educating your community is important.
2. Report a hate crime you see and encourage others to do the same here: https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/ . This is important because
– More Asian American voices are heard
– Asian American victims are getting justice
– people are aware of Asian American hate crimes
Here are safety tips for what to do if you are a part of or see a hate crime: https://stopaapihate.org/resources/.
3. Continue to educate yourself. Learn more here: https://stopaapihate.org/reports/.
4. Donate if you can. There are a lot of organizations that work with Asian American communities.