Ever since COVID-19 began back in March of 2020, lots of incidents regarding hate crimes have increased to an all-time high. This is mainly due to police brutality toward African Americans, as well as hate toward Asian Americans. Statistics will show the high number of hate crimes since the start of the pandemic.
In one article, “As US Emerges From COVID, AAPI Leaders Say Hate Incidents Expected to Rise,” writers Nina Lin and Andrew Williams explain the high increase with Asian American Hate.
Both Lin and Williams summarize that due to former President Trump’s “bent on scapegoating Asians for the pandemic,” this had resulted in many incidents regarding discrimination toward Asian Americans in the United States.
Asian Americans have become the “fastest growing demographic group,” and they have become primary targets of attacks. One tragic event involved six Asian American women, as well as other victims, in a shooting that took place at a FedEx in Indianapolis.
Lin and Williams also mentioned that the elderly of Asian descent have fallen victim to more hate crime attacks out of all the different age groups of Asian descent since March of this past year.
Another example of hate crimes that has occurred during the pandemic is notably the murder and manslaughter of an African American man, George Floyd, that occurred on May 25, 2020. Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, who placed his knee on Floyd’s neck and held him down to the ground for approximately nine minutes and 29 seconds.
An African American woman, Breonna Taylor, was also killed on March 13, 2020 during the start of the pandemic. Taylor had been fatally shot six times by a few police officers that forced their way into both Taylor’s and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s apartment due to an investigation that was going on at the time.
According to “Black and Asian Americans report increased discrimination during pandemic, survey says,” the article summarizes all of the attacks toward minorities throughout the pandemic.
Many Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans have received hate comments due to their ethnic background, such as “Go back to China” and have also dealt with multiple accusations of being responsible for the virus.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly used verbal attacks against China, calling the virus the “Chinese virus,” as well as calling it “kung flu.”
The increased discrimination in Black and Asian Americans survey showed statistics of high percentages of hate crimes toward different groups of minorities, with 40 percent of Asian American and African American discrimination and 27 percent of discrimination toward Hispanics.