New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles. These are just some of the major cities in the U.S. that have had a dramatic increase in Asian hate crimes since COVID hit the country. But many of these reported cases again Asians have gone unnoticed and ignored despite the civil rights movement that has been flourishing recently.

These crimes are getting more attention since mid-March. On March 16, Robert Aaron Lang opened fire on two massage parlors in Atlanta on Tuesday, killing eight people in the massacre. Since this attack, Long has been charged with four counts of murder with malice, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault, and five counts of using a firearm while committing a felony. 

This incident has sparked nationwide debate over whether this massacre is associated with a hate crime, with the fact that six of the eight victims were Asians. 

According to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, the incident “looks racially motivated to me.” She adds that more investigations are needed and that further research is needed in the recent rise in Asian hate crimes since the start of the pandemic. 

However, Cherokee County Sheriff’s office Capt. Jay Baker has said that the attack was not racially motivated, but was a way of eliminating a sexual temptation. Long apparently frequented the spas often and saw that he needed to eliminate the spas to cure his sexual temptations. Baker has faced backlash for this statement.

In just 2020, while overall hate crimes have diminished, Asian hate crimes have spiked up nearly 150% according to NBC News. In New York, Asian hate crimes have increased a staggering 830% from three hate crimes in 2019 to 28 hate crimes in 2020. In Los Angeles, hate crimes have risen 120% too.

Asian Student Association president Lindsay Park said, “Ever since political leaders have been calling it the ‘China Virus’ and the ‘Wuhan Virus’, hate crimes have really spiked significantly.”

Two weeks ago in New York, an assailant was arrested for spitting and punching an 83-year-old Korean American woman. The attack happened near a shopping mall on Tuesday. The attacker punched the woman so hard that her head hit the ground and she blacked out.

Another incident in July involved Chinese resident Jing Chen and her 12-year-old daughter. A nearby panhandler threw water at them and called them “A Chinese b-”. The panhandler then proceeded to punch Chen in the face. Soon afterward, Chen and her daughter fled from the assaulter in fear. The assailant was a 19-year-old black homeless woman who was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and harassment.

Incidents like these have taken the spotlight in the surging hate crimes, but most of the hate comes verbally. Asian Student Association president Lindsay Park has seen evidence of anti-Asian racism here. “Although there hasn’t been much physical harassment, there are subtle microaggressions. When I was walking along the Power Line Trail last year, people were writing ‘All Asians look the same’ in our own community. This was shocking.”

In yet another violent incident, a Nepalese man in San Francisco has taken the Asian community by storm. Subhakar Khadka was verbally and physically harassed by Malaysia King after he refused to continue to drive them because one of her friends, Arna Kimai, did not have a mask on. He proceeded to stop at a gas station for her to buy a mask, but by that point, the trio of girls were verbally abusing him and threatening him.

The situation then escalated as King attempted to rob Khadka’s phone and rip his mask off. They continued to verbally abuse him even as they left his car calling him “a goofy a- n-.” Once they left the car, they pepper sprayed him while walking away.

After the incident, police arrested Malaysia King and Arna Kimai on four charges: assault and battery, assault with a caustic chemical and violation of health and safety protocols.

Lindsay said, “These stereotypes are so strong, and I don’t know what it is going to take to dismantle them. You have the two extremes in Asians. One where Asians excel at math, science and other fields, but the other extreme of where we are vilified and ridiculed for ‘taking jobs’. I don’t know what it will take to be seen as equal and that we are just as American as everyone else.”

To learn more about Asian hate crimes, take a look at the Google Doc ASA created here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-LHFp0kxB9E2tL2O69KUwArNO52T5EhLUGqTeb9P5y4/edit