Asian settlement in the United States grew substantially after the approval of the Immigration and Naturalization Act in 1965. Since then, the group has been increasing in population in the U.S at a fast rate. The Census Bureau denotes that the population of Asians has surged from 3.5 million in 1980 to 19.4 million in 2013 ( Liu & Suyemoto, 2016) . As their population rises, the crimes against them have also been intensifying. Based on National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) , the crime committed against Asian-Americans rose from 8.2% in 2015 to 16.2% in 2019. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), hate crimes against Asian-Americans increased by 169% in 2020 ( Xu et al., 2021) . Despite the increase in the hate crime cases against Asian-Americans, the official nature and characteristics of offenses and situational conditions are unknown. Therefore, there is a need for stakeholders in Asian countries or groups within the United States and humanitarian organizations to create campaigns that address challenges that the ethnic group is facing. Although the cases of hate crime against Asian-Americans have been rising since the 19th century, the evidence in the National Incident-Based Reporting System does not offer adequate information about its occurrences.
Research Context
The animosity against Asian-Americans has a long history in the United States. From time immemorial, the Whites and other communities in the U.S. have linked the Asian-Americans as the source of diseases. The perception has contributed to the past and presents hate crime that has continued to subject the group to different forms of attacks. Tessler et al. (2020) stated that in the 19 th century, the bubonic plague was viewed as a racial disease by the white that could only affect Asians. The perceptions led to the burning of Chinatown and subsequently quarantining the Asian-Americans as a precautionary measure in 1989 ( Zhang et al., 2021 ) . Xu et al. (2021) also denote that hate crime perpetrated against Asian-Americans is due to the long history of beliefs that they spread diseases. The authors outline that the Yellow Peril pandemic led to the continued perception by the other communities in the U.S. that they are sources of pandemics. During the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory (SARS) outbreak, the Chinatown in the U.S. was closed down like during the previous outbreak of other diseases since it was viewed as the epicenter of the pandemic. Liu & Suyemoto (2016) highlight that 14% of Americans admitted through series of questionnaires and median platforms that they avoided the Asians during the SARS outbreak for fear of being infected with the diseases. On the other hand, the Asian-Americans argued that the pandemics led to an increase in anxiety and fear due to how the other cultures in America perceived them and consequences such as destruction of their property that resulted from the ill-treatment. Based on An (2020) analysis, the previous pandemics such as SARS and bubonic plague did not contribute much to the hate crime against Asian-Americans compared to the COVID-19 disease. Between March 19 th and December 31 st , 2020, the District of Columbia received more than 2,808 firsthand accounts of hate crime against Asian-Americans ( Zhang et al., 2021 ) . The incidents comprise 70.9% of verbal harassment, 8.7 of physical assault, 21.4% of shunning or avoidance, and 6.4% of spitting or coughing ( Xu et al., 2021) . Most of the Asian adults have reported that other communities in the U.S have been harassing them with jokes or slurs based on their ethnicity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Apart from disease perception, Asian-Americans have also been assaulted due to their business success. Despite that, Asians are categorized as the model minority; when their success surpasses the acceptable threshold, they face hate crimes such as murder. The Whites view that the recent and past success of Asian immigrants in businesses such as automobile and hospitality has contributed to economic and national insecurity in the U.S ( Zhang et al. , 2021) . During the economic downturns, racial conflicts and hate crime emerged, and the Asian-Americans suffered the most. The perpetrators argued that the Asian-Americans were privileged with material resources compared to the Native and other ethnic groups in America. Notably, in 1982, the achievement of Japanese automobile manufacturers in the United States markets led to the killing of its owner, Vincent Chin. Tessler et al. (2020) argue that the increasing prevalence of hate crime has led to anxiety cases among Asian-Americans, with many fearing for their physical safety. The group is currently self-conscious, but unfortunately, the evidence from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) shows that Asian-Americans under-report crimes against them compared to other ethnic groups. Zhang et al. (2021) view that the problem is associated with a lack of understanding of the legal system and reporting process, particularly for issues related to hate crimes. Also, the agencies who report to NIBRS are less than one-third of law enforcement, which may contribute to potential bias in data recording from different minority groups ( An, 2020) . Nonetheless, the police have been using bias crime reports by assuming neighborhood dynamics associated with crimes that disadvantage the Asian-Americans since they live in different regions, unlike other ethnic groups.
Conclusion
The upward trend in hate crime against Asian-Americans is indicative of growth in xenophobia and white nationalism. Hate crimes have influenced the Asian-Americans due to the misconception of being disease-carriers, economic, and national insecurity. The United States government should enhance the well-being of Asian-Americans by punishing the perpetrators of such hate crimes. D ue to a lack of adequate information in the NIRBS database on the hate crimes reports about Asian-Americans, the problem might continue to escalate. Therefore, there is a need for the community and humanitarian organizations to engage in campaigns that will facilitate the combating of the hate crimes experienced by the ethnic group. The organizations such as Chinese for Affirmative Action and Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council should create platforms that enable their people to record the incidence of hate crime, especially at the moment due to how the COVID-19 has escalated the problem.
References
An, S. (2020). Disrupting curriculum of violence on Asian Americans. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies , 42 (2), 141-156. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714413.2020.1753492
Liu, C. M., & Suyemoto, K. L. (2016). The effects of racism-related stress on Asian Americans: Anxiety and depression among different generational statuses. Asian American Journal of Psychology , 7 (2), 137. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/aap0000046
Tessler, H., Choi, M., & Kao, G. (2020). The anxiety of being Asian American: Hate crimes and negative biases during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Criminal Justice , 45 (4), 636-646. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09541-5
Xu, J., Sun, G., Cao, W., Fan, W., Pan, Z., Yao, Z., & Li, H. (2021). Stigma, discrimination, and hate crimes in chinese-speaking world amid covid-19 pandemic. Asian journal of criminology , 16 (1), 51-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11417-020-09339-8
Zhang, Y., Zhang, L., & Benton, F. (2021). Hate Crimes against Asian Americans. American journal of criminal justice , 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-020-09602-9
