Over the past few weeks, Instagram has been flooded with posts about an 84-year-old Thai American man living in San Francisco who was shoved to the ground and died a few days later. While at first glance this act of violence may seem like an isolated incident, in reality, it’s just one example of the increase in discrimination and violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community since the start of COVID-19. 

According to voa.com, there was a 150 percent increase in anti-Asian American hate crimes this past year. Since the start of the pandemic, StopAAPIHate.com, a website that allows users to self-report hate incidents, recorded more than 3,000 incidents across the U.S. However, not every incident of discrimination is documented or reported to the police.

Hate crimes are acts of violence or discrimination that are motivated by the offender’s bias against someone’s race, religion, disability or sexual orientation. While the pattern of AAPI discrimination, mostly against Asian American elders, fits the definition of a hate crime, in order for someone to be charged for committing a hate crime there needs to be clear evidence that the crime was fueled by hatred for someone’s identity. This evidence can include the use of derogatory words, a confession from the attacker or a history of racism. According to nytimes.com, because of a lack of evidence, many attacks on Asian Americans aren’t charged as hate crimes. So, while the statistics show an increase in anti-Asian American hate crimes, the number may be even larger than recorded.   

Many believe that the rise in anti-Asian American hate crimes is a result of the hateful rhetoric used to discuss China’s relationship to COVID-19. The virus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has been called the “China Virus” by former President Donald Trump. According to time.com, Co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate Russel Jeung said, “There’s a clear correlation between President Trump’s incendiary comments, his insistence on using the term ‘Chinese virus’ and the subsequent hate speech spread on social media and the hate violence directed towards us…It gives people license to attack us. The current spate of attacks on our elderly is part of how that rhetoric has impacted the broader population.” 

Kimmy Su, a WHS junior, shares similar beliefs. “I think the reason why hate crimes against Asian-Americans have been on the rise recently has been due to COVID. A lot of people are angry that the pandemic is still happening, and they’re taking out that anger on innocent people.”

Cat Valencia, a WHS senior, is currently bringing awareness to the issue of anti-Asian hate crimes over social media.

“I am Asian American. My father is Filipino. So these crimes kind of hit a bit closer to home than others,” she said. “When I read headlines about, say, an Asian American man was attacked in New York, or an Asian American elder was killed in San Francisco, I can’t help but think that that could have been my dad, or that could have been my grandmother.”

Many Asian American celebrities are engaging in the same type of activism. Actress Olivia Munn joined other Twitter users in an effort to help the NYPD apprehend a suspect in an anti-Asian hate crime by tweeting a photo of the suspect. She also noted that the woman who was attacked was the mother of one of her friends. The man was eventually located and arrested by the NYPD.