COVID-19 RESEARCH ROUNDUP
FINDING CLUES AMID THE HATE BY DENNIS ARP
Pete Simi’s inquiry into extremist groups is just one of the ways Chapman researchers are examining the impact of this crisis. Long before there was a COVID-19, Pete Simi began tracking the spread of a different viral contagion – racist hate speech. Now, as the novel coronavirus pandemic has expanded globally, white supremacists and others are using this moment to promote their agenda of fear and violence, the Chapman University sociologist says. Simi is just one of many Chapman faculty researchers who have pivoted in their inquiry to unearth insights about this virus and its voluminous ripple effects. Among the other researchers studying this historic moment are computational and data scientists who use satellite images to help determine whether stay-at-home orders are working, and two investigators who are mining big data sets to identify key risk factors as well as how the virus spreads. For Simi, it’s nothing new to see hate groups try to foster unrest and recruit new members in a time of crisis. Over the years, he has learned just how ugly and resourceful extremists can be. Simi has learned a lot by conducting more than 100 interviews with a wide range of adults who are former members of white supremacist groups. The 20,000 pages of life histories he and his Chapman research team have compiled provide a window to the origins of racist hate. “In various ways, we see COVID-19 stoking this old flame of bigotry,” says Simi, an associate professor of sociology and co-author of the book “American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate.”
“In various ways, we see COVID-19 stoking this old flame of bigotry,” says Pete Simi, an associate professor of sociology and co-author of the book “American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate.”
SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS DRIVE AN ‘INFO-DEMIC’ One way hate groups seek to capitalize is by spreading “immense amounts of propaganda,” on websites like Gab and Telegram, which present themselves as champions of free speech but in practice are hotbeds of extremism, Simi says. Much of the messaging these days centers on anti-Asian themes and imagery. No wonder, then, that as many as 100 physical attacks a day target Asian Americans, said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. And yet, in the face of such hate, there are also examples of a positive response. On Twitter, people are sharing their actions to aid Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as part of a #stopaapihate campaign. In addition, the group Asian Americans Advancing Justice is offering Bystander Intervention Training. “So in terms of response, there are some positive things today,” Simi says.
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CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
