Asian-American Violence: A History of Hate
By Isabella Bernstein, Head of Human Rights, 3/24/2021
Delaina Ashley Yaun. Xiaojie Tan. Daoyou Feng. Soon C. Park. Hyun J. Grant. Suncha Kim. Yong Ae Yue. Christian Hall. Vicha Ratanapakdee. Juanito Falcon. Paul Andre Michels. These individuals represent a mere fraction of those murdered at the hands of anti-Asian hate.
Nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate reports that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been nearly 3,800 hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the United States alone. The hate crimes include, but are not limited to: verbal and online harassment, shunning, physical assault, workplace discrimination, refusal of service, being coughed/spat upon, and vandalism/graffiti. Out of the 3,795 types of discrimination, 68.1% of cases are verbal harassment/name calling. 20.5% is avoidance and shunning. 11.1% is physical assault. 6.8% is online harassment. 2.8% is vandalism and graffiti.
An Asian business owner may come to work one morning, only to find that his/her/their business was robbed and vandalized, windows broken with racial slurs spray-painted on the sidewalks and the building itself. An Asian athlete may go on his/her/their daily jog, only to be brutalized by racist criminals. An Asian customer may order a cup of coffee at his/her/their local cafe, only to be denied service. An Asian social media influencer may post a photo in solidarity with his/her/their AAPI community, only to receive threatening, derogatory comments.
Upon examination of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, it certainly did not start with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the Age of Imperialism, the United States sought to colonize Asia in an attempt to gain global power and expand its territory. Abroad, the government treated Asian culture and people as exotic commodities to be dominated by Western culture. Beginning in the 1850s, the U.S. exploited Asian people and discriminated against them based on differences in appearance and cultural practices. The prevailing narrative that Asians were exotic, unclean and submissive still exists today.
During the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, Chinese laborers received lower wages than their white counterparts. They lived in squalid conditions while white Americans were provided train cars as accommodation. Throughout this period, sensationalist newspapers and politicians described poor sanitation in Chinese neighborhoods. They complained that the U.S. was becoming overcrowded with immigrants. Xenophobes and nativists linked the unsanitary conditions to Chinese bodies, stating that it was a threat to American safety. In the course of the next century, the United States enacted several policies discriminating against Asian people:
Page Law of 1875: Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, the Page Law discriminated against Asian people, generally Chinese, based on “select categories of persons whose labor was perceived as immoral or coerced.” The United States closed its borders to Chinese laborers and women. During this time, the idea that Asian women were “exotic” and “driven by sexual acts” pervaded the nation.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: Signed into law by President Chester Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act sought to limit Chinese immigration to the U.S. for ten year and declared Chinese people to be ineligible for naturalization. This policy is one of the first to limit immigration based on race.
Bubonic Plague in San Francisco, California: In 1900, San Francisco experienced a plague outbreak. The epicenter was the city’s Chinatown, which led many white Americans to believe that Chinese residents carried the disease from China. California’s governor, George Pardee, quarantined Chinatown and permitted white residents to leave the city. Meanwhile, all Chinese inhabitants could not leave, and the government failed to supply food. Because of this epidemic, Americans associated Chinese people with disease.
Immigration Act of 1924: Signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge, he stated “America must remain American.” This law completely prohibited the immigration of Asian people to the United States. For Asians already residing in the country, the government prohibited them from owning land, gaining citizenship and marrying American citizens.
Japanese Internment Camps: Through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9006, the U.S. government placed Japanese Americans in detention camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Seen as a security measure during World War II, the FBI seized homes owned by Japanese people and forced them to pledge allegiance to the U.S. If they failed to pledge their loyalty, the government would incarcerate them in prisons worse than the barracks. Some would never see their families again.
The Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965: Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, this policy ended the immigrant quota system. However, the government still favored European immigrants. The law selected individuals based on merit rather than race or ethnicity. While this bill was signed in an effort to prevent discrimination, the Hart-Celler Act established that qualifications such as an education were necessary to obtain citizenship. This introduced the “good immigrant” stereotype for which Asian immigrants were praised. The Model Minority myth was also perpetuated by this act.
Now, Americans must reflect on the poor treatment of their Asian peers. In December of 2019, the world saw its first case of the deadly Coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Former president Donald Trump called COVID-19 “the Chinese Virus,” and “Kung Flu,” among other racist labels. This rhetoric relit a flame of prejudice and hatred inside several Americans,“relit” because the discrimination never left. Before COVID-19, the monster of anti-Asian sentiment lurked in the shadows, rarely covered by the media.
Currently, the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community has reached a breaking point. For far too long, they have suffered in silence and fear. The United States must not ignore their pain that years of colonialism, imperialism, orientalism, and racism have caused. All Americans must acknowledge these grave human rights violations. Without acknowledgement, prejudice continues.
Over this pandemic, we have realized that hatred is infectious. If anyone is complicit in perpetuating discrimination and prejudice against any community, especially Asian American and Pacific Islanders,the disease that is racism will continue to grow. Unlike the Coronavirus, prejudice is a virus that we cannot see. As a society, we must be active in stopping the hate. We must support the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
Delaina Ashley Yaun. Xiaojie Tan. Daoyou Feng. Soon C. Park. Hyun J. Grant. Suncha Kim. Yong Ae Yue. Christian Hall. Vicha Ratanapakdee. Juanito Falcon. Paul Andre Michels. And many others. We mourn and fight for them. Say their names. Tell their stories. Stop AAPI hate.
Nonprofit organization Stop AAPI Hate reports that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been nearly 3,800 hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the United States alone. The hate crimes include, but are not limited to: verbal and online harassment, shunning, physical assault, workplace discrimination, refusal of service, being coughed/spat upon, and vandalism/graffiti. Out of the 3,795 types of discrimination, 68.1% of cases are verbal harassment/name calling. 20.5% is avoidance and shunning. 11.1% is physical assault. 6.8% is online harassment. 2.8% is vandalism and graffiti.
An Asian business owner may come to work one morning, only to find that his/her/their business was robbed and vandalized, windows broken with racial slurs spray-painted on the sidewalks and the building itself. An Asian athlete may go on his/her/their daily jog, only to be brutalized by racist criminals. An Asian customer may order a cup of coffee at his/her/their local cafe, only to be denied service. An Asian social media influencer may post a photo in solidarity with his/her/their AAPI community, only to receive threatening, derogatory comments.
Upon examination of anti-Asian sentiment in the United States, it certainly did not start with the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the Age of Imperialism, the United States sought to colonize Asia in an attempt to gain global power and expand its territory. Abroad, the government treated Asian culture and people as exotic commodities to be dominated by Western culture. Beginning in the 1850s, the U.S. exploited Asian people and discriminated against them based on differences in appearance and cultural practices. The prevailing narrative that Asians were exotic, unclean and submissive still exists today.
During the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s, Chinese laborers received lower wages than their white counterparts. They lived in squalid conditions while white Americans were provided train cars as accommodation. Throughout this period, sensationalist newspapers and politicians described poor sanitation in Chinese neighborhoods. They complained that the U.S. was becoming overcrowded with immigrants. Xenophobes and nativists linked the unsanitary conditions to Chinese bodies, stating that it was a threat to American safety. In the course of the next century, the United States enacted several policies discriminating against Asian people:
Page Law of 1875: Signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, the Page Law discriminated against Asian people, generally Chinese, based on “select categories of persons whose labor was perceived as immoral or coerced.” The United States closed its borders to Chinese laborers and women. During this time, the idea that Asian women were “exotic” and “driven by sexual acts” pervaded the nation.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: Signed into law by President Chester Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act sought to limit Chinese immigration to the U.S. for ten year and declared Chinese people to be ineligible for naturalization. This policy is one of the first to limit immigration based on race.
Bubonic Plague in San Francisco, California: In 1900, San Francisco experienced a plague outbreak. The epicenter was the city’s Chinatown, which led many white Americans to believe that Chinese residents carried the disease from China. California’s governor, George Pardee, quarantined Chinatown and permitted white residents to leave the city. Meanwhile, all Chinese inhabitants could not leave, and the government failed to supply food. Because of this epidemic, Americans associated Chinese people with disease.
Immigration Act of 1924: Signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge, he stated “America must remain American.” This law completely prohibited the immigration of Asian people to the United States. For Asians already residing in the country, the government prohibited them from owning land, gaining citizenship and marrying American citizens.
Japanese Internment Camps: Through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9006, the U.S. government placed Japanese Americans in detention camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Seen as a security measure during World War II, the FBI seized homes owned by Japanese people and forced them to pledge allegiance to the U.S. If they failed to pledge their loyalty, the government would incarcerate them in prisons worse than the barracks. Some would never see their families again.
The Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965: Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, this policy ended the immigrant quota system. However, the government still favored European immigrants. The law selected individuals based on merit rather than race or ethnicity. While this bill was signed in an effort to prevent discrimination, the Hart-Celler Act established that qualifications such as an education were necessary to obtain citizenship. This introduced the “good immigrant” stereotype for which Asian immigrants were praised. The Model Minority myth was also perpetuated by this act.
Now, Americans must reflect on the poor treatment of their Asian peers. In December of 2019, the world saw its first case of the deadly Coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Former president Donald Trump called COVID-19 “the Chinese Virus,” and “Kung Flu,” among other racist labels. This rhetoric relit a flame of prejudice and hatred inside several Americans,“relit” because the discrimination never left. Before COVID-19, the monster of anti-Asian sentiment lurked in the shadows, rarely covered by the media.
Currently, the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community has reached a breaking point. For far too long, they have suffered in silence and fear. The United States must not ignore their pain that years of colonialism, imperialism, orientalism, and racism have caused. All Americans must acknowledge these grave human rights violations. Without acknowledgement, prejudice continues.
Over this pandemic, we have realized that hatred is infectious. If anyone is complicit in perpetuating discrimination and prejudice against any community, especially Asian American and Pacific Islanders,the disease that is racism will continue to grow. Unlike the Coronavirus, prejudice is a virus that we cannot see. As a society, we must be active in stopping the hate. We must support the Asian American Pacific Islander community.
Delaina Ashley Yaun. Xiaojie Tan. Daoyou Feng. Soon C. Park. Hyun J. Grant. Suncha Kim. Yong Ae Yue. Christian Hall. Vicha Ratanapakdee. Juanito Falcon. Paul Andre Michels. And many others. We mourn and fight for them. Say their names. Tell their stories. Stop AAPI hate.
