Surge of Anti-Asian hate crimes spurs communities to action (People's World article)

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

Here's the article:

Surge of Anti-Asian hate crimes spurs communities to action

OAKLAND, Calif.—As the start of the Lunar New Year approached last week, concern was growing over a surge in hate crimes being experienced by Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area, including several victims who were over 60 years of age.

www.peoplesworld.org

It's an issue that I think about as I've been hearing about this from some friends for a while now. Even my WeChat friends have asked about this from time to time. I think that we should take this problem quite seriously, especially in the current geopolitical environment (the current Cold War in the 21st century and all). Let's hope this problem can be ameliorated as much as possible, though I have a feeling that things will get worse before they get better. Even so, we should try to at least raise awareness.

Take care and stay safe.

Slayven · Feb 19, 2021

Yeah I was watching a twitch streamer talk about this and she broke down in tears

Tokyo_Funk · Feb 19, 2021

People are so quick to find a target and put the blame on people who had nothing to do with a problem merely by association. Apparently this is also happening in Britain on a larger scale as well.

It's just fucking awful.

chefbags · Feb 19, 2021

Yeah as someone who's Filipino, so many stories of violence on elderly Asians around the OC are popping up around me. It's fucking horrible.

Loudninja · Feb 19, 2021

So much damage has being done in such a short amount of time.

BobLoblaw · Feb 19, 2021

People are some goddamn savages. It's like they were looking for an excuse to be overtly racist to yet another demographic.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

Slayven said:
Yeah I was watching a twitch streamer talk about this and she broke down in tears

Well, I can certainly say that I've been keeping up with this issue, but I don't often see the mainstream media covering this. I think there's a responsibility to cover this issue, but I hardly see it... I think that's negligent and doesn't warn people about possible danger. I'm very worried, tbh.

Tagyhag · Feb 19, 2021

Yep, it's pretty fucked up. You have to be a certain type of messed up to wake up and want to kill an innocent 91 year old man.

Comrade Grogu said:
Well, I can certainly say that I've been keeping up with this issue, but I don't often see the mainstream media covering this. I think there's a responsibility to cover this issue, but I hardly see it... I think that's negligent and doesn't warn people about possible danger. I'm very worried, tbh.

Media won't cover it, no money to be made.

Richiek · Feb 19, 2021

It's woefully underreported, though it's starting to gain traction:

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

Richiek said:
It's woefully underreported, though it's starting to gain traction:

This has been going on for almost a year now as far as I can tell. I'm disappointed in the mainstream media in this, ngl. I hope they at least rectify this problem soon.

Van Bur3n · Feb 19, 2021

Racist inbreds cowardly enough to attack the elderly. You're better than no one. You're the exact opposite. You're a subhuman. You're a mistake. You deserve nothing in life but pain and suffering.

timedesk · Feb 19, 2021

This is horrifying. It feels like we have been hearing about rising abuse towards Asians since Covid, and it doesn't get nearly enough attention from the media. Shit like this needs to be condemned from every angle, and pretending it's not happening only empowers the ones perpetrating these hate crimes.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

timedesk said:
This is horrifying. It feels like we have been hearing about rising abuse towards Asians since Covid, and it doesn't get nearly enough attention from the media. Shit like this needs to be condemned from every angle, and pretending it's not happening only empowers the ones perpetrating these hate crimes.

Absolutely.

shinken · Feb 19, 2021

Tagyhag said:
Yep, it's pretty fucked up. You have to be a certain type of messed up to wake up and want to kill an innocent 91 year old man.

Media won't cover it, no money to be made.

Do we have an update on how the poor man is doing? I saw the video and it was a hard watch.

Huncho_Houdini · Feb 19, 2021

Super sad.

Commedieu · Feb 19, 2021

Van Bur3n said:
Racist inbreds cowardly enough to attack the elderly. You're better than no one. You're the exact opposite. You're a subhuman. You're a mistake. You deserve nothing in life but pain and suffering.

a lot of what i keep seeing are brown people attacking them. Fools, we should be on the same team.

Lexxism · Feb 19, 2021

This is just sad. Luckily, me and my family haven't experienced any of these.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

Commedieu said:
a lot of what i keep seeing are brown people attacking them. Fools, we should be on the same team.

I have... heard about these things as well albeit from other people (not from any media outlets).

I do get the sense that the racism being directed against the Asian diaspora or those currently residing in the United States... may be from all races toward Asians.

We'll see as more details come out; I do not want to make any hasty conclusions, mind you.

Commedieu · Feb 19, 2021

Comrade Grogu said:
I have... heard about these things as well albeit from other people (not from any media outlets).

I do get the sense that the racism being directed against the Asian diaspora or those currently residing in the United States... may be from all races toward Asians.

We'll see as more details come out; I do not want to make any hasty conclusions, mind you.

Eh, I know my folks are racist as well. Its sad because its just abuse targeting others for abuse. Its not right. But yes, its an American issue. Just saying the clips i keep seeing are brown people as well as white folk. Mainly in response to the inbred thing. They attack all of us, we should be uniting against that but clearly life is complicated. It just pains me to see it as it turns into another issue all together when its minority on minority violence.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 19, 2021

Commedieu said:
Eh, I know my folks are racist as well. Its sad because its just abuse targeting others for abuse. Its not right. But yes, its an American issue. Just saying the clips i keep seeing are brown people as well as white folk. Mainly in response to the inbred thing. They attack all of us, we should be uniting against that but clearly life is complicated. It just pains me to see it as it turns into another issue all together when its minority on minority violence.

When I was growing up, I got racist insults from whites as well as non-whites.

I feel that the issue of racism can often be, well, dumbed down and in the worse way possible; we're still grappling with this issue in the 21st century, even over 20 years into this century.

I kinda feel that we're not very close to an honest conclusion of its pervasiveness or its character.

Commedieu · Feb 19, 2021

Comrade Grogu said:
When I was growing up, I got racist insults from whites as well as non-whites.

I feel that the issue of racism can often be, well, dumbed down and in the worse way possible; we're still grappling with this issue in the 21st century, even over 20 years into this century.

I kinda feel that we're not very close to an honest conclusion of its pervasiveness or its character.

very true.

Squarehard · Feb 19, 2021

Racism against Asians in the US goes hand in hand with Xenophobia.

roflwaffles · Feb 19, 2021

Luckily my parents are okay with staying in until they get vaccinations, but most of my friends aren't letting their parents/grandparents go out alone lately.

A lot of us have also started buying guns.

mAcOdIn · Feb 19, 2021

shinken said:
Do we have an update on how the poor man is doing? I saw the video and it was a hard watch.

There was no update to be had, he died.

iRAWRasaurus · Feb 19, 2021

Best part is it seems like no one cares.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

roflwaffles said:
Luckily my parents are okay with staying in until they get vaccinations, but most of my friends aren't letting their parents/grandparents go out alone lately.

A lot of us have also started buying guns.

I've also considered buying a gun; life in America just seems to dangerous with killer cops and racist individuals, ngl.

thediamondage · Feb 20, 2021

I'd say some of it was driven by Trump's constant usage of "China flu" to describe covid19, and the cringe eye rolling defense by MAGA supporters that pandemics are usually named after the initial starting vector location. Its pretty easy to trigger a MAGA guy by calling it covid19 instead of Wuhan Flu or whatever stupid name they want to give it.

Its not a surprise and its not the end, after 9/11 certain people with brown skin were attacked for being brown (Muslim), from Sikh's to South Americans to Middle Easterns/Indians. Covid19 triggered the same against "Asians", usually by people who would have no idea what that even means. It won't be the last time sadly.

Ideally i'd like to think kids growing up are less sensitive to racial differences like this but I'd guess sadly thats not always true, given the constant isolated news reports of kids doing blackface, doing the "squint eye" face stuff, making fun of south east Asian cultures, etc.

ccbfan · Feb 20, 2021

The media doesn't have any idea how to report cause it's not a left vs right social issues.

Hate crimes against Asian is the most bipartisan effort in the last two 20 years.

Deleted member 16876 · Feb 20, 2021

Fucked up that this is going on. I see a lot of people blaming Trump for this (and while he is absolutely a factor in the last few years), this is something that has been happening for many years now. I don't know what to say. I hope everyone being targeted by this are safe and overcome these disgusting hate crimes.

Fuck humanity and fuck racists.

bionic77 · Feb 20, 2021

Commedieu said:
a lot of what i keep seeing are brown people attacking them. Fools, we should be on the same team.

No race has a monopoly on bigotry. Everyone is susceptible.

Reminds me of the decade plus bigotry against Muslims, which is very recent (probably still ongoing) and yet no one learned anything.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

bionic77 said:
No race has a monopoly on bigotry. Everyone is susceptible.

Reminds me of the decade plus bigotry against Muslims, which is very recent (probably still ongoing) and yet no one learned anything.

I can assure you it's still going on and it certainly wasn't just white people doing it.

I'm not attacking anyone, but I do feel that people need to know the truth.

bionic77 · Feb 20, 2021

Comrade Grogu said:
I can assure you it's still going on and it certainly wasn't just white people doing it.

I'm not attacking anyone, but I do feel that people need to know the truth.

I believe you. Like I said racism is not limited to one race.

Black/muslim/asian/etc people might be subjected to racism and can still be racist to someone else.

Sometimes I wonder if racism is the natural condition and if tolerance is something that has to be learned.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

bionic77 said:
I believe you. Like I said racism is not limited to one race.

Black/muslim/asian/etc people might be subjected to racism and can still be racist to someone else.

Sometimes I wonder if racism is the natural condition and if tolerance is something that has to be learned.

Well, I suppose this has more to do with my politics, but I do believe that racism is taught over time and this is more a product of political system and society we live in, but that might be a discussion for another time and place, I guess.

Hey, you're certainly right about one thing: we do have to teach anti-racism because otherwise who knows what erroneous ideas people will get; it's not exactly far-fetched that people learn these moral lessons early on so that they don't fall into this sort of thing.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

Edit.

Wrong thread.

Thordinson · Feb 20, 2021

This is so terrible.

My SO's family, thankfully, hasn't had anything directed toward them but they are in Hawaii where the majority of people are Asian. I feel terrible for all of those affected by this. More attention needs to be brought to this.

EdibleKnife · Feb 20, 2021

BobLoblaw said:
People are some goddamn savages. It's like they were looking for an excuse to be overtly racist to yet another demographic.

Yep. Over the past decade these people have latched onto BLM to justify their hatred of Black people, ISIS & perpetual terrorist fearmongering to justify their hatred of Middle Eastern people (or let's face it: anyone even vaguely brown), & now COVID to justify hating Asian people. Doesn't matter if one is of Chinese heritage or not since they don't give a fuck about the difference. This is why white supremacy needs constant & consistent pushback not just between citizens but at the highest levels of authority in this country. It's sick how often supposedly enlightened individuals & outlets (looking at Bill Maher) feed into it too without an ounce of self-awareness.

Janus · Feb 20, 2021

Tagyhag said:
Media won't cover it, no money to be made.

Comrade Grogu said:
This has been going on for almost a year now as far as I can tell. I'm disappointed in the mainstream media in this, ngl. I hope they at least rectify this problem soon.

ccbfan said:
The media doesn't have any idea how to report cause it's not a left vs right social issues.

Hate crimes against Asian is the most bipartisan effort in the last two 20 years.

Not sure where you're reading news, but even from outside the US I've seen most big American news sites covering the rising anti-asian sentiments and the recent increase in attacks of elderly asian-americans.

NPR:

Unpacking The Surge In Violence Against Asian Americans

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with VICE staff writer Bettina Makalintal about the surge in violence against Asian Americans in the last few weeks.

www.npr.org

New Surge Of Violent Attacks Against Asian Americans In Bay Area

In the San Francisco Bay area, there's been a number of attacks and robberies on older Asian Americans. That has alarmed residents and prompted stepped-up patrols by police.

www.npr.org

Lunar New Year Brings Smiles And Hope Amid Hardships For New York's Chinatown

Crowds have been sparse for the neighborhood that has faced both a spike in anti-Asian violence and mounting economic challenges since the pandemic began.

www.npr.org

Anger And Fear As Asian American Seniors Targeted In Bay Area Attacks

The assaults have prompted some businesses to close early, while volunteers have set up protective escorts for older residents.

www.npr.org

MSBNC:

Asian Americans face rise in racist attacks amid pandemic

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been an escalating number of reports on attacks against Asian Americans.

www.msnbc.com

'A huge upsurge of racism against Asia Americans'

Crimes against Asian Americans have risen drastically since the start of the coronavirus. Dr Russell Jeung and Amanda Nguyen join Morning Joe to discuss.

www.msnbc.com

George Takei on violence against Asian Americans during COVID

The U.S. has experienced a spike in violent attacks against Asian Americans since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. “Throughout American history there’s been a steady undercurrent of Asian hate crimes throughout,” actor and activist George Takei tells Lawrence O’Donnell. “But when there...

www.msnbc.com

'We are crying out for help': Actors, activists sounding alarm on surging attacks against Asian Americans

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders nationwide. And last month, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum acknowledging and condemning the attacks. After a recent attack in Oakland targeting a 91-year-old man, actors Daniel...

www.msnbc.com

CNN:

As attacks against Asian Americans spike, advocates call for action to protect communities | CNN

There isn't evidence yet to suggest that the string of recent violent incidents against Asian Americans were motivated by bigotry. But advocates are clear that hate and violence against Asian Americans has been brewing for a while now -- and needs to be addressed.

edition.cnn.com

Rise in attacks on elderly Asian Americans in Bay Area prompts new special response unit | CNN

Several unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans, including at least three in the Bay Area captured in disturbing videos in recent days, have raised concerns about anti-Asian bias related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

edition.cnn.com

And so on, found via quick searches. And I do remember most of the bigger articles being on the front page of the respective sites.

(This doesn't cover the coverage of anti-asian sentiments outside the US that was personally more pronounced in the early days of the Corona crisis)

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

janus said:
Not sure where you're reading news, but even from outside the US I've seen most big American news sites covering the rising anti-asian sentiments and the recent increase in attacks of elderly asian-americans.

NPR:

Unpacking The Surge In Violence Against Asian Americans

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with VICE staff writer Bettina Makalintal about the surge in violence against Asian Americans in the last few weeks.

www.npr.org

New Surge Of Violent Attacks Against Asian Americans In Bay Area

In the San Francisco Bay area, there's been a number of attacks and robberies on older Asian Americans. That has alarmed residents and prompted stepped-up patrols by police.

www.npr.org

Lunar New Year Brings Smiles And Hope Amid Hardships For New York's Chinatown

Crowds have been sparse for the neighborhood that has faced both a spike in anti-Asian violence and mounting economic challenges since the pandemic began.

www.npr.org

Anger And Fear As Asian American Seniors Targeted In Bay Area Attacks

The assaults have prompted some businesses to close early, while volunteers have set up protective escorts for older residents.

www.npr.org

MSBNC:

Asian Americans face rise in racist attacks amid pandemic

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been an escalating number of reports on attacks against Asian Americans.

www.msnbc.com

'A huge upsurge of racism against Asia Americans'

Crimes against Asian Americans have risen drastically since the start of the coronavirus. Dr Russell Jeung and Amanda Nguyen join Morning Joe to discuss.

www.msnbc.com

George Takei on violence against Asian Americans during COVID

The U.S. has experienced a spike in violent attacks against Asian Americans since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. “Throughout American history there’s been a steady undercurrent of Asian hate crimes throughout,” actor and activist George Takei tells Lawrence O’Donnell. “But when there...

www.msnbc.com

'We are crying out for help': Actors, activists sounding alarm on surging attacks against Asian Americans

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in violence against Asians and Pacific Islanders nationwide. And last month, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum acknowledging and condemning the attacks. After a recent attack in Oakland targeting a 91-year-old man, actors Daniel...

www.msnbc.com

CNN:

As attacks against Asian Americans spike, advocates call for action to protect communities | CNN

There isn't evidence yet to suggest that the string of recent violent incidents against Asian Americans were motivated by bigotry. But advocates are clear that hate and violence against Asian Americans has been brewing for a while now -- and needs to be addressed.

edition.cnn.com

Rise in attacks on elderly Asian Americans in Bay Area prompts new special response unit | CNN

Several unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans, including at least three in the Bay Area captured in disturbing videos in recent days, have raised concerns about anti-Asian bias related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

edition.cnn.com

And so on, found via quick searches. And I do remember most of the bigger articles being on the front page of the respective sites.

(This doesn't cover the coverage of anti-asian sentiments outside the US that was personally more pronounced in the early days of the Corona crisis)

I honestly don't remember any of these being on the front page; I can certainly say that I haven't seen any of this on cable news (though that's cable news so what would you expect at this point).

Janus · Feb 20, 2021

Comrade Grogu said:
I honestly don't remember any of these being on the front page; I can certainly say that I haven't seen any of this on cable news (though that's cable news so what would you expect at this point).

It's a bit difficult to get good snapshots from the frontpage due to them changing sometimes from hour to hour, but here's one from NPR:

Home Page Top Stories

NPR delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture. Subscribe to podcasts and RSS feeds.

web.archive.org

Even on the day Trump was unfortunately acquitted by the cowardly and complicit Republicans, the news about the attacks on elderly asian-americans was right there on the front page.

Edit: Overall the issue of anti-asian sentiments may be very well underreported (especially outside the US), however, I'm not a fan of talking how "all media is corrupt, they don't report on anything", as this is very similar to the talking points of alt-righters (condemning all media, media being "the enemy" and so on). Not all media is the same, and there are reports about those issues.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

janus said:
It's a bit difficult to get good snapshots from the frontpage due to them changing sometimes from hour to hour, but here's one from NPR:

Home Page Top Stories

NPR delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture. Subscribe to podcasts and RSS feeds.

web.archive.org

Even on the day Trump was unfortunately acquitted by the cowardly and complicit Republicans, the news about the attacks on elderly asian-americans was right there on the front page.

Oh fair enough, but that's just NPR; I haven't yet seen cable news even discuss this and NPR isn't as major as CNN, ngl.

Janus · Feb 20, 2021

Comrade Grogu said:
Oh fair enough, but that's just NPR; I haven't yet seen cable news even discuss this and NPR isn't as major as CNN, ngl.

Web archive is a bit broken for CNN, if this link works you can see the story about the attack was also on their front page:

CNN International - Breaking News, US News, World News and Video

Find the latest breaking news and information on the top stories, weather, business, entertainment, politics, and more. For in-depth coverage, CNN provides special reports, video, audio, photo galleries, and interactive guides.

web.archive.org

However, CNN's front page is changing constantly. What's on the front page and what isn't, is not a good indicator of under- or over reporting.

fireflame · Feb 20, 2021

I remember an asian streamer on twitch who had to run away because of being targetted in San Francisco

aznpxdd · Feb 20, 2021

Honestly, I probably wouldn't feel safe if I wasn't living in the San Gabriel Valley where Asians are the majority in some of the cities. And I'm a 6ft 200lb dude, can't imagine what what other Asian Americans are feeling.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 20, 2021

janus said:
Web archive is a bit broken for CNN, if this link works you can see the story about the attack was also on their front page:

CNN International - Breaking News, US News, World News and Video

Find the latest breaking news and information on the top stories, weather, business, entertainment, politics, and more. For in-depth coverage, CNN provides special reports, video, audio, photo galleries, and interactive guides.

web.archive.org

However, CNN's front page is changing constantly. What's on the front page and what isn't, is not a good indicator of under- or over reporting.

Fair enough. I'm more talking about the cable news on TV, but I get your point. Even so, I do feel that this deserves at least a bit more attention given what we're getting. Perhaps too little, too late, is what I'm saying.

Septimus Prime · Feb 20, 2021

janus said:
It's a bit difficult to get good snapshots from the frontpage due to them changing sometimes from hour to hour, but here's one from NPR:

Home Page Top Stories

NPR delivers breaking national and world news. Also top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture. Subscribe to podcasts and RSS feeds.

web.archive.org

Even on the day Trump was unfortunately acquitted by the cowardly and complicit Republicans, the news about the attacks on elderly asian-americans was right there on the front page.

Edit: Overall the issue of anti-asian sentiments may be very well underreported (especially outside the US), however, I'm not a fan of talking how "all media is corrupt, they don't report on anything", as this is very similar to the talking points of alt-righters (condemning all media, media being "the enemy" and so on). Not all media is the same, and there are reports about those issues.

To be fair, anti-Asian sentiment in the west has been around for a long, long time, and waiting until now to cover it--after it's already escalated into violence--is akin to waiting until Superbowl season before covering football.

So, yes, lots of articles and attention on it now, but where was everyone at for the last several decades, if not longer?

Kill3r7 · Feb 20, 2021

Septimus Prime said:
To be fair, anti-Asian sentiment in the west has been around for a long, long time, and waiting until now to cover it--after it's already escalated into violence--is akin to waiting until Superbowl season before covering football.

So, yes, lots of articles and attention on it now, but where was everyone at for the last several decades, if not longer?

Yep, it is built into our (US) laws. See Chinese exclusion act.

Comrade Grogu · Feb 22, 2021

Septimus Prime said:
To be fair, anti-Asian sentiment in the west has been around for a long, long time, and waiting until now to cover it--after it's already escalated into violence--is akin to waiting until Superbowl season before covering football.

So, yes, lots of articles and attention on it now, but where was everyone at for the last several decades, if not longer?

Pretty much what I'm saying. I get the other person's point and it's good to let the facts stand, but I was aware of this issue for years now, at the very least. I feel that we haven't really been taking it seriously as much as we should.

ccbfan · Feb 22, 2021

At the end of the day very little people care.

Even now most of the mentions are not concern for Asian American issues but more to weaponize it as an attack against Trump. 90+ percent of politicians have either ignored it completely or use it to attack Trump. None of them actually give a shit about Asian Americans, they either ignore us or use us for their twitter burns.

SquirrelSr · Feb 22, 2021

Septimus Prime said:
To be fair, anti-Asian sentiment in the west has been around for a long, long time, and waiting until now to cover it--after it's already escalated into violence--is akin to waiting until Superbowl season before covering football.

So, yes, lots of articles and attention on it now, but where was everyone at for the last several decades, if not longer?

People ignored police brutality for a long time and the black community had to call it out twice before people cared to look. It's basically ingrained into the system at this point. And even then it's not guaranteed to catch people's attentions. Someone literally shot up a kindergarten and we still don't have gun regulation.

The-JUV · Feb 22, 2021

should probably be it's own thread and not entirely related, but police just killed a filipino man by excessive force again and my gut tells me people are unfortunately not going to care so much, though I hope I'm wrong...

Navy Veteran Dies After Police Allegedly Kneel on His Neck During Mental Health Crisis

A Filipino American man in Antioch, California has reportedly died after a police officer kneeled on the man’s neck. The incident, which was partially caught on video, occurred during a police intervention last December while the man was suffering from a mental health crisis.

nextshark.com

Surge of Anti-Asian hate crimes spurs communities to action (People's World article)

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