Anti-Asian hate crimes in US spiked 339 percent in 2021: report

Data released Monday indicates that hate crimes against Asian Americans rose by more than 300 percent last year.

The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism released a compilation of hate crime data this week, and, as NBC News reported, it found that anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 339 percent in 2021 compared with 2020.

For all hate crimes in general, Los Angeles reported more incidents than other city in the U.S., followed by New York.

Across most cities, the data found that Black Americans continue to be the most targeted group. In New York, the Jewish community reported the highest number of hate crimes last year.

The report also included data on hate incidents, which include nonviolent forms of discrimination such as harassment and shunning. Between March 2020 and September 2021, around 10,370 hate incidents were reported by the Stop AAPI Hate nonprofit.

The data from this report supports similar numbers recently released on cities such as New York and San Francisco.

Last month, the New York Police Department said anti-Asian hate crimes had risen by 361 percent in 2021, from 28 crimes in 2020 to 129 in 2021. Early data from the San Francisco Police Department found that hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders rose by 567 percent in the past year.

According to Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, the recent data could be a reflection of increased awareness of reporting tools, telling NBC that people living in cities may be more racially conscious and more likely to discuss racism spurred by the pandemic.

“People may not report as much if you haven’t taken ethnic studies and live in Kansas. So that’s one factor of why we’re getting more reports. On the coasts, you have more Asian Americans who are attuned to and aware of how we’re facing discrimination,” Jeung said.