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Voices & Opinion

POV: BU Student on Anti-Asian Discrimination: “It’s Just Dehumanizing”

Lawmakers need to implement preventive measures against racist hate crimes

“Are you doing okay today?” my classmate texted me on Wednesday, March 17. I knew immediately why she reached out without further elaborations—we are both Asian women. 

The traumatizing shooting in Atlanta on Tuesday, which left six Asian women dead, once again distressed Asian communities nationwide. Xenophobia and anti-Asian discrimination has always existed in visible or invisible forms, yet the pandemic has drastically escalated resentment and detestation towards individuals of Asian ancestry. Stigmas, embodied by repeated reference of COVID-19 as the “China virus,” concretize anti-Asian sentiments into physical violence and hate crimes.

Between March 19, 2020, and December 31, 2020, Stop AAPI Hate has received 2,808 reported incidents of racism and discrimination targeting Asian Americans across the United States, including acts of verbal harassment, physical assaults, and coughing/spitting. Most of these reports do not constitute criminal convictions; collectively, however, they produce a penetrating threat to the physical and psychological well-being of Asians and Asian Americans. Ironically, only confirmed incidents of harm and injury can raise public awareness on racial justice. The Atlanta shooting shocked the world with its abnormal level of brutality, but it was not a causal incident. Instead, the cruel crime manifests an internalized, accumulated, and circulated abhorrence of AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) people in a racialized America today.

Upon hearing the news, I approached my mother, an immigrant of Chinese descent. Anger, confusion, and affliction filled the air as we discussed the issue. “I’m angry because I am Asian; but if I was not Asian, I’d be angry too. It’s just…dehumanizing,” she said. 

It’s true. Pandemic-related racism spreads even faster than viruses, demonizing Asians as the cause of disease—or, the disease itself. When an 84-year-old Thai man was beaten to death and when a 23-year-old Korean woman was punched in her face, it became clear that Asians, regardless of their ages and nationalities, are targeted merely based on the color of their skin. 

“We came to America for its well-known diversity and inclusion,” my mother stated. “But now, I am scared of just being who I am.” Anti-Asian attacks, as shown in video footage, are largely unprovoked and unexpected. Completely innocent individuals are forced to live with an excruciating fear of attacks from strangers—on streets, in supermarkets, and even at their workplaces.

Furthermore, research from San Francisco State University indicates that intersectional identities increase Asian Americans’ risks of harm, as “60 and older were disproportionately targeted with physical violence, as were women.” Echoing the statement, the Anti-Defamation League points out that misogyny and white supremacy are powerfully intertwined: “while not all misogynists are racists, and not every white supremacist is a misogynist, a deep-seated loathing of women acts as a connective tissue between many white supremacists.” The Atlanta shootings reflects an incident of racialized misogyny, compounding the vulnerability of Asian American women, who are already stereotyped as quiet and submissive. Therefore, in addition to ethnicity, age and gender also contribute to the fear among Asian communities. The future of AAPI security is in limbo. 

Freedom from fear, as introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his famous “Four Freedoms” speech, is listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Given surging cases of anti-Asian violence and hate crimes, Asian Americans are likely deprived of such freedom and hence inevitably dehumanized. From “model minority” to “COVID carriers,” labels on Asian Americans objectify them as “4.0 GPAs” and now “viruses,” disregarding their individual dispositions and pursuit of happiness. There is an urgency to humanizing Asians worldwide. 

As my mother voiced concern for my security, I was fortunate enough to tell her that I mostly feel safe living at a higher ed institution. As an Asian woman, I have not personally experienced explicit acts of racism and sexism in my college bubble, yet it aches and infuriates me by imagining strangers attacking people of my ethnicity. I also worry deeply about the safety of parents, who might become targets of arbitrary attacks in today’s society.

Advocating for Asian Americans aims not to victimize the race, but to foster social unity and harmony. Hate cannot overcome the virus; technology and solidarity can. Only by eliminating misinformation and prejudice against AAPI communities can those communities regain their security, dignity, and freedom. Besides raising awareness on Twitter with #StopAsianHate, policymakers and lawmakers should implement preventive measures against racist hate crimes. Redemption is appreciated, empathy is valued, but prevention is what we need.