There's been a huge spike in anti-Asian discrimination and harassment lately as a reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the increase, New York City is taking action to help prevent those racist attacks. The New York City Commission on Human Rights announced that the coronavirus response team would handle those reports.
There have been 248 recorded reports of harassment and discrimination related to the outbreak. More than 40% have been anti-Asian. It's a pretty big contrast to last year, when there were only five anti-Asian reports of discrimination.
In this already challenging time, it's being made even tougher right now for those populations who are being discriminated against. No matter what is happening in the world, no one deserves to be discriminated against as a result. So while New York is taking action to try to record and control the spread of fear and hate, misinformation seems to be fueling it.
Now the NYC team is working hard to crack down on those incidents. "All New Yorkers are facing extraordinary levels of stress right now; discrimination and harassment should not be among them," NYC Commission on Human Rights Commissioner Carmelyn Malalis said. "Even in the midst of a pandemic, human rights cannot be violated, and we encourage anyone who has experienced COVID-19-related discrimination to report it to us."
Even when not looking at the numbers, it's hard to deny that they are on the rise. Even while CNN's Kyung Lah was out reporting on the topic, she was confronted with racism. She told Jake Tapper about the racist encounter with a passerby, saying it had been "since middle school" that something of the sort had been said to her.
Malalis told CNN that often these kinds of events go unreported. So one of the biggest challenges the agency will face is encouraging victims to report discrimination: "Creating a record of this time of what is happening and the effect of those anti-Asian attacks and the effect that that rhetoric has on people — that's one of the reasons we're keeping track of these cases."
She also pointed out that it's important for our leaders to help set the precedent. "One would hope that they could look to leaders to instill some sort of calm and safety and security," Malalis said. She said leaders using language that is divisive, especially at a time like is, is "personally and professionally incredibly worrisome."
Even some health care workers across the US have said they've heard racist sentiments while actually treating patients. It's incredibly sad and frustrating to hear. In one widely circulated picture out of Denver, a health care worker stood before a woman leaning out of a car who reportedly yelled, "This is the land of the free! Go to China!"
There have also been recent reports of misinformation and anti-Chinese sentiments spreading online since the spread of the virus began. It appears that the pandemic is being used by certain groups to fuel hate. Conspiracy theories run rampant online, and with the use of social media, they can easily seep into the mainstream.
One of the conspiracy theories that has been identified by researchers looking at the data alleges that coronavirus is a bioweapon created by China's government. Then it reportedly is transmitted through Chinese people. The theory sounds so outlandish that it wouldn't be believable, but these kinds of stories have an impact on the public. In some cases, they can lead individuals to act out due to their misconceptions.
Some of the recent attacks we're hearing about have been frightening. During one, a 51-year-old woman was beaten on a city bus in the Bronx. The attack came from a group of riders who reportedly blamed her for the COVID-19 outbreak, according to police. The group was made up of three teenage girls, investigators said.
Just about everywhere across the country, there have been spikes in these kinds of occurrences. The incidents are being logged through the Stop AAPI Hate website, which was launched on March 19. Still, it's pretty stunning to see how drastically the numbers have gone up, especially because most people are at home.
Hopefully, the tide will begin to turn with the help of the commission tracking and collecting COVID-19-related reports, along with law enforcement taking action. Still, it's a scary time for many people for so many reasons. Racist attacks are harmful and misguided, and they certainly won't do a thing to help bring an end to the global pandemic.
