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Hwang Joon-bum

By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent

I was shocked by a notice I received by email from the school board of Fairfax County, in Virginia, where I live. The school board explained that four students had approached an Asian student who was alone at a middle school near my house and spit at the Asian student and used racial slurs that are derogatory to Asians. The incident was even more upsetting because I learned of it while I was still processing the fatal shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, that left eight people dead, six of them Asian women.

Hatred and discrimination against racial minorities are deeply rooted in American society, tracing back to the founding of the country. Along with the enslavement of Native Americans and Blacks, which began early in the New World's European settlement, there's also a long history of discrimination against people of Asian descent. For example, Chinese immigration was banned by the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 19th century, and Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps during World War II. Against this historical backdrop, former president Donald Trump's jibes about the "China virus" after the outbreak of COVID-19 last year added fuel to the fire of hatred of Asians.

A nonprofit organization called Stop AAPI Hate (APPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) collected 3,795 reports of hatred against people of Asian descent from March 2020 until last month. Stop AAPI Hate related one incident reported by an Asian American accosted by an older man in a California store who started scowling. "You are out here shopping!" the man began, and then said, "We delisted your companies, shipped back your international students…when do you ship out? […] We are going to take away your citizenship!" A woman from Virginia told the nonprofit that she'd been on the metro when a man shoved her, used derogatory language about China, and fake coughed at her.

The Atlanta shooting occurred amid growing concerns about hatred of Asians in the US. Police investigating the shooting say they haven't found any evidence to view it as a hate crime against Asians. But considering that most of the victims are Asian, it's difficult to view the shooting in isolation from the prevalent discrimination against Asians in American society. Members of the Asian American community say that this shooting should be used to raise awareness about the severity of hatred and discrimination against Asians and to create momentum for ending such attitudes. The rallies held to denounce the shooting in Atlanta have been attended by various racial groups, including Asians, Blacks, and whites.

Unlike the Trump presidency, there are hopes that things could change under Biden. Shortly after taking office, Biden signed an executive order aimed at ending racial inequality. Then after the shooting, Biden said he understands the concerns of Asian Americans and that hatred must be brought to an end. A Black man that I met in a recent rally in Washington told me that he hadn't gone to the Black Lives Matter protests last year out of fear of a brutal police crackdown. But things are different now, the man said, explaining that the new administration makes a big difference. Another encouraging change is that the number of Asian Americans in Congress has increased to nearly 20, including four Korean Americans in the House of Representatives.

There's no way to know whether this will lead to a movement against racism on the same scale as what happened after the killing of George Floyd last year. The police say they're not yet able to conclude that the shooter was motivated by racism, which is probably a major factor causing the Asian community to hesitate before taking collective action. Nor is it easy for people of Asian descent, who represent about 6% of the American population, to come together, setting aside their own linguistic and cultural differences.

Nevertheless, there's no doubt that this is the right time to raise our voices about "stopping Asian hate." This is also a litmus test that can show whether Asian Americans can join together and form a coalition with Hispanics, Blacks, and whites to show that there's no place in the US for discrimination or hatred. There may not be anyone spitting in my face right now, but there's no guarantee that won't happen to my children.

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