Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
After several videos that have been disseminated and spread by social networks and media where aggressions against Asian Americans are observed, as well as thousands of reports of attacks against them, experts say that the community faces a double virus, because in addition to facing the pandemic by COVID-19 they also have to deal with exacerbated racism.
After President Donald Trump left office on January 20, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) thought that the attacks against their community would decrease, but unfortunately, "the problem has not gone away.
That's according to John C. Yang, president and CEO of Asian American Advocacy for Justice (AAJC), who noted that attacks have been increasing for more than a year.
"Asian Americans have been struggling with two viruses: one is the COVID-19 virus, which we all face, as well as its health and economic effects. But, unfortunately, Asian Americans have also had to fight a second "virus," racism. A virus that is affecting us in spirit," he added.
During the briefing "Communities Unite to Combat Violence Against Asians" by Ethnic Media ServicesIn addition, he noted, many Asian-Americans are front-line workers, working in grocery stores, hospitals, community centers and custodial services. "So the effect on our community is definitely very significant.
"This virus of racism is a virus that is very contagious and that affects all of our communities. We have to fight this virus together," he said.
And that's because, he said, in a recent survey, more than 75 percent of Asian-Americans felt they were targeted or had increased fear of discrimination, while another study in 2020 found that 40 percent of people in that community experienced discrimination or heard someone blame Asia or China for COVID-19.
"Words matter. We can't discount that we've had a full year where a president - Donald Trump - and some of his colleagues have called this virus 'the China virus' or 'the Wuhan flu'," he noted.
While it is true that attacks on the Asian-American community are not new and date back to the 1880s, today the violence and insults towards the Asian-American community have gotten out of control.
"We are seen as foreigners who carry the disease. There's definitely a conditioning that's happened in the last year that's caused people to be afraid of Asian-Americans," he added.
Yang acknowledged that the root of that fear is health fears, as well as economic fears, so people look for someone to blame, and as the COVID-19 pandemic began in China, the Asian community was the one to blame.
One of the first memos President Joe Biden made upon his arrival at the White House a month ago was on racial equality and anti-xenophobia in the Asian-American community, but that's just the beginning, Yang said.
"There's more the government can do, it needs to invest in communities, whether it's to promote victim response centers, whether it's to provide resources and financial assistance, whether it's to encourage cross-cultural community conversations, because it's important to break down some of these barriers," she said.
For Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, "hate is everywhere and it's an invisible disease".
Speaking out against the "demonization" against Asian Americans for the COVID-19 health emergency, he said that all communities - African American, AAPI, Latino, LGBTTTIQ+, Jewish American, and Islamic American - must stand together "to urge investment in holding those who carry out these acts accountable and to continue our commitment to the cross-cultural work and understanding that is essential to civil rights work in the 21st century.
"There has always been a line between free speech and hate speech. When we see hate speech we must condemn it. We must denounce it. We must confront it. When hate speech instigates acts of violence, then the protections of free speech disappear," he said.
Morial explained that "we have to make it very clear that hate speech that leads to violent acts against innocent people is illegal. The most important thing we have to do as leaders, is to condemn these actions, condemn these words, we have to do it in the morning, in the afternoon and at night, from Sunday to Saturday, we have to keep doing it because we have to fight hate with messages of tolerance, understanding and love for humanity".
The executive director of the Asia Pacific Policy and Planning Council ?A3PCONManjusha P. Kulkarni pointed out that in a nine-month period, more than 2,800 reports of incidents - attacks on the Asian-American community - were recorded over the course of 41 weeks.
At the same time, he detailed that, while it is true that most of the attacks have been reported in the states of California and New York, it does not mean that no area of the United States is immune. "In fact, we've had reports from both rural and urban areas in far-flung states like Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the American heartland.
He clarified that women are experiencing hate at a rate 2.5 times higher than men, and that the increase in attacks on the elderly is because "perhaps the perpetrators think that ?the elderly? cannot defend themselves, at least physically, and may be targeted.
He also said that about 40 percent of the attacks have taken place in private businesses -- grocery stores or pharmacies -- while about 30 percent have occurred in the public realm -- public streets, sidewalks, parks, or public transportation -- and about 10 percent, at least in California, have occurred in private residences.
And it's not that the schools are not being attacked, but they have been closed for almost a year.
"About 40 percent - of those attacked - are individuals who identify as Chinese-American so they constitute a plurality - a community followed by Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Japanese."
In that regard, Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action and co-creator of the Stop AAPI Hate Center, noted that the impact of the attacks on the Asian-American community has been "traumatizing."
"There has been an alarming rate of depression and anxiety related to COVID-19-related bias. And the recent events of seniors being attacked and killed, whether racially motivated or not, continues to create a climate of fear and anxiety."
He added that there is a historical precedent of prejudice and discrimination against Asians.
"We have to understand that this has defined our experience, being denied basic human rights, subjected to mob violence and discriminatory treatment. Our systems of laws, at different times, have painted us as a threat to public health, as dirty disease-carrying aliens, as economic strings that take away jobs, and sometimes as a threat to national security."
He also noted that "anti-Asian and 'anti-China' rhetoric and the general anti-immigrant climate of scapegoating is directly responsible for the unprecedented levels of interpersonal attacks we are seeing.
Jose Roberto Hernandez of the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance noted at the time that "what we are living right now are still the aftershocks of the political and social context that we have been living in since the United States was founded.
"What we're really experiencing is the 'America First' virus. That's the one virus that we have to start dismantling going forward because that's embedded in society."
"We have to start undoing the damage that Donald Trump and all the cronies and political allies and selected media outlets that were promoting all of this. We have to find a way to start a new cultural evolution that reflects the reality of this country. We have to start working on a long-term plan. We have to make sure that we hold people accountable for promoting leadership within our communities."
