Stop AAPI Hate is a non-profit organization that is used to report hate and discrimination against Asian American & Pacific Islanders, or AAPI, who are Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. Due to attacks towards the Asian community that stem from the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the website was formed in 2020 as a response to the racist attacks in the APPI community. The organization itself had received a whopping total of 9,081 hate incidents across the U.S between the 19th of March 2020 and 30th of June 2021. According to the report, 63.7% have been verbal harassment and 16.5% have been shunned. Racism and discrimination is nothing new, especially with the widespread COVID-19. Many Asians, Pacific Islanders and those of Asian descent have faced many racial attacks during times of the pandemic — most of them being tied to the virus origins of China and with our former President Trump’s statements that the cause of the virus is China itself by calling it the “Chinese virus”. As the second year of the deadly virus strikes, many have realized that a simple hate crime can turn into a violent action such as harassment on public transportations and verbal or physical attacks. 

Recent incident reports given by usatoday.com states an 84 year old Thai American man was brutally shoved in San Francisco who later died during the month of January. During that month, police in Oakland, California reported that a man shoved three elderly people to the ground in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood with one resulting in a fatal incident. On that following week, a 36-year old Asian man who was in New York’s Chinatown neighborhood was stabbed brutally and taken to a hospital in critical condition. New York Police Department mentioned that the following suspect of that assault had faced charges that included attempted murder as a hate crime and as well as assault.   

The rise of hate in the Asian American community continues to grow as the pandemic transitions into another year. There are many ways to report hate crime incidents, such as via Stop AAPI Hate and Asian American Advancing Justice–these websites may also be used to donate, and by supporting Asian-owned businesses buying locally and nationally. Lastly, let’s do our part and speak up for those in need during this pandemic. If you ever encounter anyone in these kinds of situations, don’t be afraid to fight for what’s right and do what we can in order to end this criticism and deadly virus once and for all.

Photo by Elvert Barnes Photography from Wikimedia Commons