Results: Stop Asian Hate

All of us have faced the health challenges and economic anxieties of the pandemic over the last year, Asian Americans and Canadians have had to deal with an added anxiety: a dramatic rise in racist harassment, discrimination and violence. The hate ranges from threatening letters taped to homes, Asian run businesses being boycotted or defaced with racist graffiti, to being spat on and getting sprayed in the face with disinfectant, and all the way to violent attacks and killings. These hate incidents targeting members of the Asian community have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to racist language used by political leaders, including former US President Donald Trump. Trump has called Covid the "China virus" and "kung flu". The message is clear but misguided and dangerous: "You people" are the reason for the global pandemic. You are the Chinese virus. Have you referred to Covid-19 as any of these derogatory terms?

Then, last Tuesday, the hate escalated dramatically when a gunman in Atlanta killed eight people at spas, all of which were Asian-owned businesses, with six of the victims women of Asian descent. The gunman, a 21-year old white man, does not admit to a racial motivation, but instead claims he has a sex addiction, and these places (and women) tempted him. Asian women are often the subject of racial stereotypes that sexualize them as the "geisha" or "China doll," as submissive objects for men's pleasure. . In the case of the Atlanta shooting, those racist and misogynistic tropes translated into a killer blaming Asian women for his sex addiction. Do you feel that this latest attack was racially motivated?

A narrative in which Asian women are immediately reduced to their sexuality, in which they become "less victimized" because of their perceived moral failing, and in which the suspect's motive is considered a kind of justification is worrisome. Instead of jumping to conclusions about the work these women did because of where they worked, we can listen to their families and friends telling us who their loved ones were. Instead of judging them or pitying them, we can make space for their names and their stories. We can be cognizant of the ways in which racism and misogyny are inextricably linked. We can try to start dismantling these centuries' old biases we share as a culture. When you heard about these killings, did you think "hate crime" or "sex trade workers"?

Both the U.S. and Canada have seen huge jumps in anti-Asian hate crimes, attacks and harassment since the start of the pandemic. As an example, Vancouver, British Columbia, with a sizable Asian population, has seen these types of incidents rise by 717% in one year. And not all anti-Asian hate or fear is blatant. Some is much more subtle. In examining your own bias, have you done any of the following during the last year: