Report finds surge in anti-Asian crimes in 2021

New hate crime data from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino found that hate crimes against Asian-Americans surged in 2020, with sharp increases observed in 15 major cities, NBC News reports.

Across the cities that were reviewed, the report found hate crimes against Asian-Americans rose by 169 percent when comparing the first quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021. The highest increase was observed in New York where hate crimes jumped by 223 percent.

An initial spike in hate crimes occurred in March and April of last year, NBC notes, around the same time the coronavirus pandemic became worse. Much of the rise in hate crimes has been attributed to rhetoric that targeted the Asian-American community and accused it of being tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sociologist and associate professor at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, Van C. Tran, told NBC News that hate crimes in general increased in the past year. As such, Tran said the rise in hate crimes against Asians was not surprising, but added the targeting of Asians had “exploded.”

“What is unfortunate here is the fact that much of that hate and racism are being targeted towards one very small community in terms of population size,” he told the outlet.

“I think this is a very, very unique moment whereby I see a lot of need for those cross-race, cross-class relationships and coalitions. Across the spectrum, each of the racial minority groups is facing a different form of othering,” Tran added. “Some are more institutional. Others are more interpersonal — they are deeply connected, deeply linked to the ignorance and the hatred that are simmering or have been simmering underneath the surface.”