Zero tolerance to hate crimes
Hate crimes against Asian Americans have been skyrocketing in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began.
A report released last month by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University found that anti-Asian hate crimes surged nearly 150 percent in 2020, while hate crimes fell by 7 percent overall. A separate group, Stop AAPI Hate, cataloged nearly 3,800 hateful incidents against Asians in the US-which is not limited to crimes-during the first year of the pandemic. Most of these hateful incidents targeted women.
The plight of Asian Americans has sparked anger and concern and prompted US President Joe Biden to say that "too many Asian Americans walk the streets worrying, waking up every morning this year fearing for their safety, the safety of those close to them. They have been attacked, blamed, scapegoated, harassed". The phenomenon as he observed is certainly a disgrace for a country that has always taken pride in its self-assumed role as the global protector of human rights, but little action has been taken.