Why did we stop talking about anti-Asian racism?

Over the past month you’ve probably seen a story or two focusing on the increase of antiAsian racism and violence across the U.S.

Right here in California we’ve seen an 84-year-old Thai American named Vicha Ratanapakdee killed while out for a walk in San Francisco, a 91-year-old man attacked in Oakland’s Chinatown, a 64-year-old Vietnamese American grandmother attacked and robbed in San Jose, and an elderly Filipino woman attacked on a trolley here in San Diego.

These incidents are part of a larger trend that has escalated in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic. Between March 19, 2020 and the end of December, the Stop AAPI Hate website received firsthand reports of more than 2,808 instances of anti-Asian hate, coming from 47 states and the District of Columbia — more than 40 were reported in San Diego.

The weird thing is, despite these attacks occurring throughout the past year, public discussion and news media focus on the issue has been erratic.

I don’t recall seeing many big stories about anti-Asian racism after the early months of the pandemic. In fact, things seemed rather silent until last month, when coalitions of Asian American nonprofits and Asian American celebrities like Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu — who offered a reward for help identifying Ratanapakdee’s attacker — forced folks to pay closer attention to the issue.

I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling.

On Feb. 11, the Asian American Journalists Association put out a lengthy statement condemning anti-Asian racism and challenging newsrooms to step up and cover the issue.

“AAJA calls on national and local media outlets to prioritize coverage of this ongoing violence against AAPIs, and to empower their journalists to report on these incidents immediately, accurately and comprehensively,” the statement read.