Anti-Asian American hate crimes discussed
Two events took place to review the rise in hate crimes due to COVID-19
Last week, two events were scheduled for Yolo County leaders and residents to address the rise in hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
On March 23, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors received a presentation on hate crimes by the District Attorney’s Office and the Anti-Defamation League and on March 24, the Yolo Education and Discovery Spring 2021 Leaders Summit held a conference titled “Yolo Against Hate” to address the rise in anti-AAPI hate crimes.
The events occurred just days before the Woodland Police Department announced that a man had followed a woman of Asian descent while she was walking home from Walmart on California Street on March 26. The woman told police the man threatened to find “the Chinese and kill them all.”
The incident on March 26 is only one of the thousands of reported hate crimes against AAPI in the past year.
“We have to do more,” said former Yolo County supervisor and former California assemblywoman, Mariko Yamada.
“Over 38,000 such incidents across the country in the past year… And when you do the math, that's an average of more than 10 incidences a day.”
Nancy Appel, the senior associate regional director and California legislative director at the Anti-Defamation League, defined a hate crime for supervisors. A hate crime is a crime against a victim based on: disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual organization, or an association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.
A hate incident, on the other hand, is non-criminal activity, motivated by hatred or bigotry. It usually involves speech.
The U.S. Attorney for Eastern District of California, Phil Talbert, who represents Yolo County, explained that his office is responsible for prosecuting hate crimes in Federal Courts. Talbert said he works with the Yolo County District Attorney, and the FBI on these cases.
During the YED summit, Robyn Rodriguez, a professor of Asian-American studies at UC Davis and the founding director of the Buloson Center for Filipino Studies, explained the historical context of racism against AAPI, and the obvious white supremacy involved in it.
“When people who have been doing racial justice work like myself talk about structural racism, it has been code for white supremacy,” Rodriguez said. “It is the term that we have used, frankly, so that we can better engage white audiences and white people in power, like many of you. So that we may actually get our issues heard and responded to. But after years of doing this work, years of not being heard, years of not seeing policies change enough, I am exhausted and I am fed up.”
She explained that there are two main themes in anti-AAPI racism. One is the model minority myth — a way to demonstrate to the United States and the world that the country isn't racist and to uphold white supremacist ideals. The second is the idea of the “yellow peril” — the mindset that Asia is a threat to the West.
The yellow peril, Rodriguez explained, arises often during times of turmoil, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During such time, an external agent such as the yellow peril unites ‘real Americans,'” she said.
After Rodriguez's historical background, KCRA reporter Stephanie Lin led a panel featuring Lisa YepSalinas, a community advocate and retired farmer and community advocate Steve Hiromoto and Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan.
Lin asked participants to explain how recent hate incidents have affected them personally. Tan explained the circle of trauma brought by these incidents.
“It really came to mind that the trauma people go through when they experience racism and discrimination, it's sort of a cycle,” Tan said. “You go through the experience the first time, you get angry, you get emotional, you question why you specifically were a target, why it happened to you and then there's almost nowhere for this anger and these feelings to go but internally… They get buried but they never get resolved. And then another incident happens, or something you hear in the news, makes the cycle start all over again.”
Yep-Salinas, who has reported being the victim of multiple hate incidences since the beginning of the pandemic, explained how she worked with her children to make sure they were both physically able to defend themselves but also know their history.
“Knowledge is power as well as being able to physically help themselves and to know your local government, and to know the people to call to help you,” she said.
Hate crimes can be reported to the Woodland Police Department at 530-6662411.