Anti-Asian Crime in the News

Are people targeting Asian-Americans, and if so, why?

Nobody wants to see a crime wave. We especially don’t want to see a trend in crimes that target a specific group. There is too much history associated with that sort of thing, all of it disturbing.

When we see reporting on such a trend, we should look closely and take it seriously. We know from experience that our most powerful media outlets have preferred “narratives,” meaning storylines they want to cover vs. those they don’t. There is a story they are eager to tell, and they need only the thinnest opportunities. This has to be kept in mind.

The Narrative about Anti-Asian Crimes

This subject became front-page news recently when a 21-year old Caucasian gunman shot and killed in cold blood eight people at an infamous massage parlor in Atlanta, six of whom were of Asian descent.

Coverage of the event turned immediately toward potential hate and race motivations. President Biden said that for Asian Americans “It’s been a year of living in fear just to walk down the street,” while the Vice-President added that “violent hate crimes and discrimination against Asian-Americans has risen dramatically over the last year.”

The reason for this, many speculate, negative attitudes toward Chinese people due to the Coronavirus being referred to as “Chinese.” ABC News responded to the recent shooting by suggesting that “tweets containing the term ‘Chinese Virus’ likely perpetuated racist attitudes” which “helped fuel an environment of hatred.” One congresswoman said on a national Sunday morning news program, “I do strongly believe this is a hate crime.” A number of major media outlets echoed this narrative.

The Relevant Facts

The first question you might ask is whether or not crimes against Asian-Americans have, in fact, risen since the pandemic. It appears that in some places they certainly have, according to police reports in many cities. It should be noted that, according to numbers from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, Asians are still targeted less than blacks, whites, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, gays, and the disabled.

But if indeed there has been an increase in attacks on Asian-Americans, we ought to ask where, by whom, and for what discernible reasons they have increased.

• Where: Notably, the increases in Anti-Asian violence have been predominantly in major cities in politically blue states. The cities with the largest increases in such crimes in 2020 were reportedly New York City, Boston and Los Angeles. Recently NPR highlighted the increased violence, focusing primarily on the areas of San Francisco and Seattle. Interestingly, Canada also reports similar increases since the pandemic began, concentrated in its major cities (Toronto and Vancouver).

  

• By Whom: There is not a lot of data on this question regarding 2020, but most years have been similar to what the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows for 2018, as seen in the chart below, which shows by group who committed criminal acts against Asians that year: 27.5% of perpetrators were black, 24.1% were white, also 24.1% for Asian-Americans, 7% were Hispanic, etc. There has been no suggestion that these averages have changed much.

• Reasons or Motives: This is the most difficult question to answer. No clear body of statistics exists that I can find. The larger media narrative, as described already, points to racism based on the idea that Asians are to blame for a virus that came from China. But many analysts point to other things, such as a general surge in crime in 2020, what one observer called a “climate of lawlessness that has reigned in many of America’s big cities following this summer’s protests against law enforcement.” In a lot urban areas, Asian-Americans have long been the most successful subgroup, which has made them the target of resentment. In the case of the recent Atlanta shooter, he and those who know him have told police that what drove him to commit the murders (aside from mental illness) was related to sexual issues and not racial ones.

Additional Considerations

In assessing the narrative of bigotry against Asians based on the term “Chinese” or “Wuhan” when describing the Coronavirus, it shouldn’t be forgotten that this language was used by mainstream media repeatedly for months.

The virus-based motive for anti-Asian crime would have to depend upon profound confusion (maybe even stupidity). Most people understand that not every Asian person is Chinese. They also do not hold every person of Chinese descent responsible for what the corrupt Chinese Communist Party (CCP) does.

Some writers have pointed to the shooter’s affiliation with an evangelical church. Aside from the fact that it is not uncommon in a state like Georgia for someone to be affiliated with an evangelical church, there is no connection between the beliefs or teachings of those churches and violent hatred of Asians. The subtle suggestions of writers that imply this amount to slander.

Evangelicals have a strong solidarity with Chinese citizens, given the tremendous growth of underground churches in China in the face of vicious persecution by the Chinese government. It is that government, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), that is held responsible by many Americans (and others around the world) for their mishandling of the virus that led to global catastrophe.

And that same government (the CCP) is responsible for the worst human rights abuses against a minority Asian population that we know of today. Finally, it is that government’s state media that is currently repeating the propaganda that Anti-Asian violence is the fault of the U.S. for criticizing China’s handling of the virus.

Some Asian-Americans see the Left as more responsible for animus against them than conservatives who criticize the CCP. Recently the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY) released a public document explaining why they denounce Critical Race Theory as “a hateful, divisive, manipulative fraud,” and pointing out that contemporary advocates for intersectional hierarchy have relegated Asians to the category of “white” for their overall educational and career successes, which is seen as “privilege.”

The Takeaway

It hardly needs to be said how terrible a thing a mass shooting is, regardless of circumstances. But as we seek to understand it, discernment is paramount.

From what we can tell, a spike in crimes aimed at Asian-Americans has not been explained - at least not yet. The spike is primarily in places not known for conservative populations. There is little evidence it has anything to do with blaming Asians for a China-born virus.

Some people won’t care what the facts tell us. Their narrative is more important. Witness the shameful example of the CNN White House reporter who wrote that it is “immaterial” what the shooter says about his motivations. The problem is “white supremacy” regardless of what the police say or what crime statistics reveal.

It is this derelict ideological stubbornness on the part of some who call themselves journalists that requires a critical reader’s vigilance.