Speak up to stop hatred of Asian Americans

Threats, assaults against that community have been a growing concern related to COVID-19

The motive behind a spree of shootings Tuesday in Georgia is not yet confirmed, but it speaks volumes that voices across the spectrum were moved to condemn violence against Asian Americans given the possibility these crimes were racially motivated.

Threats and assaults against members of that community have been a growing concern for more than year, related to the COVID-19 virus originally identified in China. As a result, these Americans are fearful for their health and safety, and frustrated that so few are speaking out to stop it.

Even Hampton Roads hasn’t been spared. Remember that in April, the owner of Chesapeake restaurant “A Taste of China” had anti-Asian graffiti painted on her car outside the business she operated with her husband for 20 years.

That story made the news, but plenty more did not. The nonprofit group Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate reported Tuesday that it recorded 3,795 incidents of harassment, discrimination and violence between from March 19, 2020, to Feb. 28, a sharp increase from the year before.

Americans of Chinese descent have experienced the worst of it, accounting for more than 40% of those incidents. Women are more likely to report altercations, and the episodes included victims from the very young to the very old. Acts of hate have occurred in every state in the nation and the District of Columbia.

Advocates for Asian American communities have been sounding the alarm for months about an uptick in violence, without much success. In fact, there’s reason to believe discrimination against these communities was accelerated by former President Donald Trump repeatedly calling COVID-19 the “China virus” or the “kung flu.”

There should be no illusion about the influence of Trump’s words by now, and using those terms served to dehumanize Asian Americans. Prominent conservative media have also floated unproven allegations the virus was concocted in a Chinese lab. That invites retaliation against people of Chinese descent, which is unconscionable. Many of those who perpetrate racially motivated violence learned that hatred at an early age and don’t need the president to give cover to their prejudice. It’s easy enough to find people who share their twisted worldview online, where hatred is oftentimes the coin of the realm, before it spills out into the real world — with dangerous repercussions.

President Joe Biden has offered a more proactive, protective message for these Americans, using his prime-time address last week to condemn “vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who’ve been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.

“At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, are on the frontlines of this pandemic trying to save lives. And still, still they are forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America. It’s wrong, it’s un-American and it must stop.”

That was an important step, but it never should have taken this long for the nation’s leaders to condemn the threats

Asian Americans have faced during the past year.

Now, in the aftermath of a series of deadly shootings that left at least eight dead, several of whom were Asian Americans, and which may have been racially motivated, Americans cannot look away. They must not look away.

They must confront ignorance forcefully and make clear that there’s no safe harbor for anyone who perpetrates a crime based on ethnicity. And they should lend their support to members of our Asian American communities at a time they may feel isolated and shunned.

Recall that incident in Chesapeake last year. Once word of the attack circulated, members of that community turned out in force to support the victim and her restaurant at that difficult time. In doing so, the people of Chesapeake showed they would not tolerate such ugliness.

Our fellow Americans are being threatened and intimidated, attacked and scarred and even killed. The silence surrounding this must end and we should condemn that hatred with a united voice.