Opinion: #StopAsianHate is not over

#StopAsianHate is not over. 2021 has seen an influx of anti-Asian hate as a result of the coronavirus, with NBC reporting a grand 169% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the last year. 

On the upside, anti-Asian hate has faced a lot more attention from the public than it has ever before, with streams of social media posts, new bills promising to take initiative on fighting hate and more. 

Yet, statistics tragically show that anti-Asian hate is far from declining in the United States. According to USA Today, the several political campaigns, bills and initiatives that have been put into action have rather been ineffective as the number of hate crimes only continues to increase. 

In July, a Korean American 6-year old was physically attacked in Las Vegas. 

An Asian mother has passed away following a New York subway assault on July 17.

An elderly South Korean immigrant couple was assaulted and their store was destroyed in some part after a card decline on July 23. 

And, just recently, on July 27, an elderly Asian woman was arbitrarily struck on a Manhattan street.

These are just the most recent crimes in the steady streamline of hate that has been occurring and increasing since the last year. But simultaneously, the “efforts” on these crimes have been steadily decreasing. After the anti-Asian hate bill that was signed by President Joe Biden this May, there have been no large-scale government actions taken to counter this continuing presence of hate. In fact, many sources such as Vox and NBC comment that this bill is unproductive in eliminating the main cause of the hate but rather may result in more tension and conflict later on down the road. 

In addition, as an Asian American myself, in sharing my own experience, I have not and still don’t feel completely safe since the beginning of the pandemic. Every time I take a walk around my neighborhood or get groceries, I always have to second-guess whether or not I will be noticed because of my race and hated for it. My family avoids certain areas and the presence of hate always looms above us. 

I cannot stress enough how much I’ve come to understand the truth in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” in the past year. This goes for all groups, whether it’s by race, class, gender, etc.

As we all have come to realize the presence of hatred and injustice recently, we must work continuously to keep everyone accountable and to improve the conditions of our country not as an individual but altogether. This way, we will be able to take steps slowly to eliminate injustice, everywhere.