Residents are urged to report incidents to authorities.
Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
People in the Asian community in San Mateo County said they are more afraid of racism than of the COVID-19 pandemic because of the various attacks they have suffered throughout the pandemic, which, far from abating, have steadily increased, especially in the Bay Area.
In response, county authorities such as District Attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe and Sheriff Carlos Bolaños expressed their condemnation and repudiation of the attacks experienced by the Asian community across the country, but especially those registered in the community they seek to protect.
"One of the most important things we're trying to do is, especially now, in light of what's been happening over the last few months, to get the information out to get people talking and reporting what's going on," he said during a virtual meeting to address the attacks and the issue that means for the safety of hundreds of citizens.
The official explained that one of the big gaps that exist for the authorities to take action on the matter is that people do not report the acts, so he called on the community to approach the Sheriff's Office to work together and stop the attacks.
"What we are going to do is, when the Sherrif's Office sends these types of cases to us, we are going to prosecute them. There is absolutely no room for leniency," he said.
In that sense, he explained that he is already in dialogue with other Bay Area District Attorneys to join forces and prevent these types of attacks from occurring, and said they will join forces with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations to promote complaints, and that this will lead to tougher laws on the matter.
For his part, Sheriff Bolaños pointed out that hate crimes will never be tolerated in San Mateo County. However, in 2020 alone, and according to one of his investigations, such crimes reached nine, a figure that while he said is not as high as neighboring counties, there should not have to be a single case.
"We know this is a crime that is very under-reported. Most people don't report these crimes, and doing so is vitally important. It doesn't matter how small the hate incidents are. Hate incidents can turn into hate crimes, and we want to know about them and document them, and we want to work with the District Attorney's Office to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law," he said.
He added that unlike other counties, San Mateo has the resources to ensure that every hate incident or hate crime is fully investigated. "We also have a District Attorney who is compassionate, but we hold criminals accountable here in San Mateo County. If you commit a felony, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will spend time in my correctional facilities."
He reminded those who need support with incidents of this type or who are witnesses to such incidents to call 9-1-1, as the county has more than 800 employees, as well as staff who speak several languages to handle any call.
"We make sure we have staff in our areas where there are people from a certain demographic who can speak that language and we recognize that it's important," he added.
He also noted that the Sheriff's Office is maintaining high visibility of officers in areas where there are a large number of Asian businesses, "so they know we're there to protect them and we're there for them."
According to Russell M. Jeung, PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, so far, of the 3,800 incidents against the Asian community nationwide, about 300 have been in the Bay Area, and of those, in 2020 alone, 120 were in San Mateo County, which is just over a third of the total in the area.
According to Jeung, among the most common incidents against Asian Americans are microaggressions, verbal harassment, and avoidance of contact, however, vandalism is among the most commonly reported attacks.
During a virtual meeting held this past Saturday, the expert highlighted that the places where the greatest number of Asians receive attacks are in various businesses -34.2 percent-, on the street -25.6 percent-, on the Internet -12.8 percent-, on their property -12.0 percent-, in traffic -5.1 percent-, and parks and schools -4.3 percent each-.
"We just did a study where we asked people in the community what was their stressor right now? And there was a mumbling response. They said they're more afraid of racism than they are of the pandemic, which has killed more than half a million people," he said.
In that sense, he pointed out that the Asian American community is the only one that lives more worried about racism and xenophobia than about the COVID-19 pandemic itself, which makes them live in a state of constant anxiety and fear, especially for those who cannot defend themselves, the elderly.
And, he said, it no longer matters much the ethnic origin of the people, since it is enough to have oriental features to be a victim of hate attacks that derived from the belief that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was their fault, as well as spreading it around the world.
However, Jeung explained that Asian American youth in San Mateo County are more aware and likely to report the large amount of bullying and harassment the community experiences through the website www.stopaapihate.org .
While the number of those reporting incidents is not yet large, it is expected to increase and allow local law enforcement to help stop the harassment and incidents against a community that has undoubtedly contributed much to San Mateo County.
