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Raw Data: Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in Selected US Cities

Have hate crimes against Asian Americans increased? FBI data for 2020 isn't yet available and won't be for quite a while, but a few large cities have released figures already. The Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at CSU San Bernardino has gathered up what's available and compiled this table:

As the Center notes, this large increase comes against a background of decline in overall hate crime between 2019 and 2020.

This is obviously pretty stark data, and it's been widely disseminated, but it's worth keeping in mind that it's still preliminary. It's based on only a few large cities and the absolute numbers remain small. We might get a very different picture when nationwide figures are available later this year.

27 thoughts on “Raw Data: Anti-Asian Hate Crimes in Selected US Cities

  1. akapneogy

    Thank you for the data. The recent events in Georgia are heart wrenching. All hate crimes are repugnant. Hate crimes against a particular community are, if possible, even more repugnant. There is obvious indication here that anti-Asian hate crimes have increased noticeably. Think of what one would be feeling if one were Asian-American and living in one of the places listed. There is also zero doubt that things have been made worse by Trump's tantrums against the "Chay-na virus" despite repeated admonitions to not indulge in that disgusting practice. There is room for dispassionate objectivity in the pursuit of the physical sciences. This isn't a place for it.

        1. Midgard

          All 3 places hit were his perverted hang outs. It makes sense he would strike at them. But sure, let's ignore the 2 nonasians killed. Let's focus on illegal immigrants Trump let in to do "massages".

          1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

            Meanwhile, El Jefe's dear friend Robert Kraft is getting hands-on finish at a strip mall massage parlour mere miles from Maralago!

  2. D_Ohrk_E1

    I have three points:

    (1) Culturally, Asians underreport most crimes, but especially that which might cause others to shun them within the community. Sex crimes, for instance.
    (2) People are indifferent to crimes against Asians because they don't see Asians as having to overcome racial, financial, or cultural obstacles.
    (3) As you already know from having delved into the FBI statistics, reported hate crimes against Asians are low to begin with. See (1). But, as you can see via their report, reported hate crimes against Asians have been rising steadily *since* it bottomed out in 2015. Anyone wish to guess what happened in 2016?

  3. George Salt

    From USA Today:

    "The week after then-President Donald Trump first used the hashtag #chinesevirus on Twitter, the number of people using the hashtag increased more than tenfold, and they were much more likely to include anti-Asian hashtags than those who used #covid19 in their tweets."

    "Anti-Asian bias and attacks have grown exponentially over the past year in conjunction with anti-Chinese rhetoric. This week's deadly shooting in Atlanta, in which six of the eight people killed were of Asian descent, has contributed to fears throughout the Asian-American community."

    "Trump's use of the phrase in speeches and on Twitter, which critics called racist, preceded a cascade of its use by others online. The mean number of daily users in the #covid19 group rose by 379% after Trump's tweet, compared with an increase of #chinesevirus by 8,351%."

    "Anti-Asian hashtags soared after Donald Trump first tied COVID-19 to China on Twitter, study shows"
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/03/18/anti-asian-hashtags-donald-trump-covid-19-tweet-study/4728444001/

    1. johnholbrook1

      So saying or tweeting "China virus" is to blame?

      But it couldn't at all be related to equating being Asian with being white and benefitting from "white supremacy," discrimination against Asians at Harvard, Yale and elite prep schools, or numerous calls for Asians to "check their privilege?"

      1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

        That is the duality of the Unite the Right movement. Richard Spencer touts Asian women as an alternative for white men who cannot submit the white women they really want, but they are still hateful toward Asia, generally.

        It's a fraught, some may even say heated, moment.

  4. Mitch Guthman

    I appreciate that these killings took place in a bizarre intersection where right wing politics, weird Christian stuff, misogyny, and race hatred all seemingly converge but the hatred of Asian people seems dominant. And yet, the local police (who themselves don’t seem to care much for Asians) probably wouldn’t have classified these murders as a hate crime (they might feel obligated to do so now that their high ranking spokesperson has been outed as a racist moron).

    That said, this department seems to be about the norm for handling deplorables with kid gloves. I really wonder if these statistics are at all meaningful.

  5. iamr4man

    I wonder if anti Muslim/Middle Eastern hate crime has gone down and channeled in to anti Asian hate crime or if it is just an add on.

      1. haddockbranzini

        In my city, according to crime stats, most recent street attacks on Asians have been committed by African Americans. So it's not just general bigotry. It seems to be something else.

          1. johnholbrook1

            For "hate crimes," which are, at the very least, I'll defined and subject to interpretation, no. For interracial violent crime against Asians, yes.

            In 2018, after this trend began, African American offenders were responsible for approximately 28-percent of 182,000 incidents of interracial violent crime against Asians. Whites were responsible for 24-percent. Controlling for population, the difference is about seven times greater than you'd otherwise expect.

  6. Midgard

    Most of this is driven by angry Mexican americans with black anger rising in Cali. Hopefully it doesn't lead to a race war.

  7. frankwilhoit

    Further proof that all victims are fungible. Increase the cost of attacks on any one class of victims and another class will instantly be chosen. Effective mitigation is not about the victims, whoever they may momentarily be; it is about the bullies.

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