"Easy Targets for Asians" Surge in Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans in the US

Published 10 Feb.2021 10:04(KST)

An 84-year-old Thai-American man is collapsing after being attacked by a 19-year-old youth during a morning walk in San Francisco, USA. Photo by MSNBC capture.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Soyoung] Recently, there has been growing tension in the United States due to frequent hate crimes targeting elderly Asian Americans. Concerns are rising that racial discrimination, which began with the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, is intensifying.

According to a CNN report on the 8th (local time), an 84-year-old Thai American man died after being attacked by a 19-year-old youth during a morning walk in San Francisco, California, on the 28th of last month. The suspect was arrested on charges of murder and elder abuse.

Just three days later, a 28-year-old man in Oakland's Chinatown pushed and injured three men, including one over 90 years old. The man was charged with assault and is reportedly undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

As such murder and assault incidents targeting elderly Asian Americans continue to occur daily, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office in San Francisco announced the activation of a special response team.

District Attorney Nancy O'Malley stated, "Crimes targeting Asian Americans, especially those of Chinese descent, are rapidly increasing." Although the two cases are not directly related and the motives of the perpetrators are unclear, concerns persist that these may be hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in June last year, about one-third of Asian Americans were exposed to racial slurs during the pandemic, and 26% expressed concerns about physical attacks.

Chinese-American actor Daniel Wu criticizes the hate crime that occurred in Auckland Chinatown. Photo by CNN

As attacks targeting Asian Americans continued, famous actors Daniel Wu, who is Chinese American, and Daniel Kim, who is Korean American, offered a $25,000 reward for information on the suspect in the Oakland Chinatown case. Daniel Wu stated, "Low-level crimes are occurring in our community. Asians become easy targets," adding, "This is because Asia was blamed as the cause of COVID-19."

John C. Yang, president of an Asian American civil rights organization, also said, "Crimes targeting Asian Americans sharply increased last year, many of which stemmed from rhetoric related to COVID-19."

There is also an analysis that these hate crimes began with former President Donald Trump. Previously, Trump referred to COVID-19 as the "China Virus." In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted "COVID-19" as the official term, stating that using specific place names can lead to prejudice against people from those regions.