Special Reports

Asian hate crimes spark student support of #StopAsianHate

By Nathalie Miranda

Chinese Americans were the largest ethnic group (42.2%) that reportexperi-

Anti-Asian hate crime in 16 of America’s largest cities increased 145%

Asian Hate Crimes in Los Angeles and Boston rose by 114%

Illustration by Valery Barrera e Pearl Post | April 2021

With the recent increase in hate ignored. Non-Asian people need to help crimes against the Asian com- the Asian community and we all need to munity, more and more people come together,” junior Adam Martinez have been speaking up about the racism said. and xenophobia in the U.S.. Asian-Americans have been experi “Seeing my friends, students and encing things like getting made fun of for schools come together and talk about their eye shape and have Asian languages these issues really gives me a sense of mocked for a long time but society has hope,” math teacher Lori Seo said. been pretty silent about it.

In the last few months, there have Asian-Americans continue to expebeen many racially motivated attacks to- rience small racist o enses all the time. ward the Asian community and many of Especially students, racism at school them have been directed toward Asian is so frequent and people within the elders. This massive increase started hap- Asian-American community have dealt pening with the start of COVID-19. with it for far too long. “It’s like we are going back in history,” senior Amelia Sanchez said. “Asians haven’t done anything to deserve this hate for something they can’t control.” “ As an Asian myself, I feel like I have

Hate crimes toward the Asian community have increased by to be more aware 150% in many major cities in the U.S. between 2019 and 2020. With of my surround-racism toward Asians being so normalized throughout the years, ings than I normally many people are speaking up in hopes that the issue can be recognized and taken seriously. As hate crimes increase, students are turning to social media as a way to bring attention to this iswould be Cameron Frank ” sue. Through sharing posts, reposting and advocating, students are making “I’ve had people squint their eyes at more people aware of the situation and me,” Frank said. “People have also referred that’s really what their goal is, to just bring to me as a ‘ching-chong’ multiple times.” attention to the issue and get people talk- The fact that many people are speaking about it. ing up about racism and violence against

“If I were to witness rst hand a racist Asians is amazing. Spreading awareness act, I’d do everything in my power to put and bringing attention to these issues are a stop to it,” senior Jovanny Dominguez , very important and hopefully there will who is half-Japanese said. be a day where racism toward Asians and

Even students who aren’t Asian have everyone else is non-existent. been posting on social media about these “I hope this all comes to an end issues. With the small Asian population real soon,” Dominguez said. “At the end of at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, it’s the day, we’re all human and that’s all that important for everyone to speak up and should matter.” help them. The Asian community needs as much support as they can get. Instagram: @nathal0ser

“This isn’t something that should be

Don’t blame Asians, blame racism

By Gabrielle Lashley

Aterrifying anti-Asian sentiment has raged across America amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which sparked numerous hate crimes against the Asian community. This drastic rise in violence against Asian Americans is all due to “pandemic-fueled racism” and xenophobia. It has yet to be stopped because of the normalization of racism against Asians and willful ignorance.

It’s overdue for people to understand that not all Asian Americans are Chinese, not all Chinese Americans carry the coronavirus, that silence is complicit and it’s about time we stop.

People all over the world came to the conclusion that all Asians carry the virus. Some American o cials, including former president Donald J. Trump, have been referring to COVID-19 with frankly racist terms such as “the Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu,” which has been argued to escalate the situation and further provoke anti-Asian sentiments.

According to an analysis from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, New York City had a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes by a whopping 833% from 2019 to 2020, all because of a stigmatizing idea that Asian Americans are at fault for the pandemic’s spread to the U.S., even though they’re Americans just like the rest of this country.

While The House of Representatives passed a resolution denouncing anti-Asian acts related to the coronavirus, President Joe Biden himself issued an executive order condemning the attacks. Police departments, such as the Los Angeles Police Department, increased their training on hate incidents. Just this passing weekend, several protests were held all across the U.S. in a stance against the uprising in anti-Asian violence. Thanks to actions like these, awareness is being spread about the horri c crimes that have sprouted not only in the U.S. but all over the world.

People have gone as far as to use this pandemic to back up their xenophobic arguments about how COVID-19 spread to the U.S. because of immigration. In reality, it’s been suspected that in the beginning of quarantine, Americans who were traveling outside of the country are at fault for the rst cases of COVID-19 found in the U.S.. But racist people probably wouldn’t bother looking that up anyway.

As anyone can imagine, these discriminatory views and acts which have taken root, heavily a ects Asian communities, not just physically but mentally as well. Studies have shown that the uprise in race-based stigma against Asians has negatively impacted their mental health, causing anxiety, depression and a general sense of fear. According to an article published Feb. 27 in USA Today, a federal report stated that at least 40% of these discriminatory or violent acts were going unreported out of said fear, language barriers and unreliability in police. Luckily, police and lawmakers have made it their mission to keep better track of these crimes and stop them all together.

It’s honestly ludicrous how our country has grown so accustomed to racism against Asian Americans but unfortunately, that’s exactly why all the good deeds that have been done in an attempt to lower these hate crime rates haven’t actually succeeded yet. Because people think it’s not a big deal. But that’s exactly why more people need to stand by the Asian community and do things like help raise awareness, help victims feel more comfortable in reporting their attacks and advocate for more services to be provided for victims to reach out to.

Photo provided by (top)Harlow Frank, Chareena Pascua, (bottom) CJ Gorospe and Cassia Ramelb e Asian and community have been negatively a ected as they have experienced hate and blame for the cause of the COVID-19. In response to their anger, many turned to violent attacks on Asian individuals.

Instagram: @yogabbygabby_l