Asian American students concerned by hate crime surge

South Korean-born Jane Lee, now a student in the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina, is a little worried about her upcoming rotation in New York. A recent report found a 220% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020.

“I definitely have that in the back of my mind that I will have to be extra careful about where I go, when I go and all that stuff. It's something I'm more conscious about nowadays because of what’s been happening since COVID,” Lee said.

 

The report on anti-Asian violence in the United States from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, comes as the country marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. It’s a time set aside to pay tribute to the Asians and Pacific Islanders who have played important roles in America’s history and will make important contributions to its future.

But this year, attacks on people of Asian descent are also part of the discussion. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found that nationally, anti-Asian hate crimes rose 164% in January through March of 2021 in 16 of America’s largest cities and counties compared with the first quarter of 2020.

No South Carolina cities or counties were included, but the report still resonates with Lee. “It’s really frustrating, and it breaks my heart,” she said. “Asian people just getting attacked – they don't deserve any of that.”

During those attacks, some victims are being taunted with phrases such as, “You have the China virus, go back to China.” Research shows people have a hard time telling people of other ethnicities apart.

Lee’s classmate Benjamin Magowan, whose mother is from the Philippines, called the attacks disheartening. “How you could feel like that about someone you've never met, just because of how they look? It's scary. It's disappointing. And it makes me angry.”

It also makes him worry. “It’s very apparent that my mom is Asian, so she feels nervous. It’s just her, back home in Rhode Island. It's really hard, especially being so far away from her. And then her being worried about me. I feel like she's not as worried about herself as she is worried about me.”

 

Magowan encouraged people to think about words they’re using when referring to the coronavirus, whether it’s over the dinner table or on national TV. “When I hear the phrase ‘China flu’ kind of thrown around, that really makes you think, ‘What is going through people's heads when they say that? When bird flu was a thing, did you not like birds anymore? Or when we had swine flu, did you stop eating bacon?’”

“It's really scary when certain language is used on a nationwide platform. It says a lot to the people who are listening about what is and isn't OK to say. Now they think that it's OK to see a certain race as lower than others, or certain people as second class. I think maybe certain things in the news make people who may have kept that to themselves now feel safe expressing that publicly.”

Lee said it’s important for all of us to see each other for who we are. “I want people to be more aware, more open. There's no reason to hate another human being for no reason.”