After the coronavirus outbreak, reports of discrimination and violence against Asian Americans increased. A previous Pew Research Center survey of English-speaking Asian adults found that in 2021, one-third were worried that someone would threaten or physically attack them. They answered that they felt that way. Also, in 2022, English-speaking Asian adults were more likely than other races and ethnicities to say they had changed their daily routines because of concerns about being threatened or attacked. .
The new 2022-23 survey asked adults of Asian descent whether they personally knew another Asian person who had been attacked in the United States since the start of the pandemic.
Asian adults who personally know an Asian person who has been threatened or attacked since COVID-19
About one-third (32%) of Asian adults say they have experienced an Asian person living in the United States who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He answered that he knew him personally.
Whether Asian adults know someone with this experience varies by Asian ethnic group.
About four in 10 Chinese adults (39%) say they personally know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked since the coronavirus outbreak. Similar rates were found for Korean adults (35%) and adults from the sparsely populated Asian group (classified as “other” in this report) (39%). Approximately 3 in 10 Vietnamese (31%), Japanese (28%), and Filipino (28%) American adults and approximately 2 in 10 Indian adults (21%) live in the United States. He said he knew another Asian who lived there. Victims of racially motivated threats and attacks.
Additionally, there are some differences between regional origin groups.
Overall, similar proportions of East and Southeast Asian adults say they know other Asians who have been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity (36% and 33%, respectively) . Slightly fewer South Asian adults (24%) say the same.
There are also differences between the Nativity and Immigrant generations.
U.S.-born Asian adults are more likely than Asian immigrants to say they know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked during the COVID-19 pandemic (40% vs. 28%, respectively). %). Among immigrants, 1.5-generation immigrants (those who came to the U.S. as children) are more likely than first-generation immigrants (those who immigrated as adults) to say they know someone with a similar experience. (37% vs. 25%). And among U.S.-born Asian Americans, 44% of second-generation adults think so, compared to 28% of third-generation or higher Asian adults.
Whether Asian Americans personally know another Asian person who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity since the pandemic began also varies by other demographic groups.
Age: 44% of Asian adults under 30 say they know someone who has been threatened or attacked during the pandemic, compared to 18% of those over 65. Gender: Asian women are slightly more likely than men to say they know an Asian person who has been threatened or attacked during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (35% vs. 28%, respectively). Party: Thirty-six percent of Asian Democrats and Democratic voters say they know an Asian person who has been threatened or attacked because of their race or ethnicity, which is higher than Republicans and Republican voters. (25%). Anti-Asian discrimination on the rise amid the coronavirus pandemic
These findings come as reports of discrimination against Asian Americans have spiked during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of federally certified anti-Asian hate crimes increased from 158 in 2019 to 279 in 2020 and 746 in 2021, according to hate crime statistics released by the FBI. The number of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2022 fell for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak, to 499. Between March 2020 and May 2023, the organization Stop AAPI Hate received more than 11,000 self-reported incidents of anti-Asian bias, the majority of which were incidents of harassment, bullying, exclusion, or other incidents. was involved in a discrimination case.
Additionally, previous research has shown that referring to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus,” “Asian virus,” or other names that link the disease to location or ethnicity is associated with anti-Asian sentiment in online discourse. It turned out that there was. The use of these phrases by politicians and prominent public officials, such as former President Donald Trump, has coincided with increased usage among the general public, and prejudice against Asian Americans has become more frequent.
In their own words: Asian Americans’ experiences of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic
In the 2021 Pew Research Center Asian American Focus Group, participants discussed their experiences of being discriminated against on the basis of race or ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Participants talked about being shamed in both public and private spaces. Some Asian immigrant participants said they were afraid to speak up because it could affect their immigration status.
“I was walking[in the street where I live]when an old white woman said, “You’re disgusting,” and poked me in the face and tried to punch me. She ran away crying. I was with my boyfriend, who had also just arrived in the United States, so I fled with him because I thought he would get deported if I caused trouble.”
– Korean immigrant woman in her late 20s (translated from Korean)
“[A very close friend of mine]was living in a school dormitory, and when the pandemic just started… there was sticky tape directly in his room that said things like ‘China Virus Quarantine.’ I did.”
–Chinese immigrant man in his early 30s (translated from Mandarin)
Many participants, regardless of ethnicity, said they were targeted because others perceived them as Chinese.
“I think the crimes (that have happened) against other Asians could also happen to me as we go through COVID-19. When I look at white people, I can’t tell if their ancestry is Scottish or German. So they look at me and think the same thing. They can’t tell the difference between Koreans and Chinese, and we’re from Asia, and it’s our fault for the onset of COVID-19. This can happen to all of us, so I think Asian Americans should come together and let people know that we are human too and we have rights. When it comes to Asian Americans, I’ve come to believe that we can’t stand still even when we’re being trampled on.”
– Korean immigrant woman in her early 50s (translated from Korean)
“Even when I was on the bus,[people]were acting like I had the virus. People wouldn’t sit with me, they sat a little further away. That’s because I look Chinese.”
– Bhutanese immigrant woman in her early 30s (translated from Dzongkha)
Amid these events, some participants spoke about their feelings within the community and their kinship with other Asian people.
“I feel like[when I hear stories about Asian people on the news]I automatically feel a connection to someone who is Asian. …[I]feel like this is happening to me and my family and… It’s very upsetting and upsetting to everyone else I know who is Asian. (For example) The subway was attacked and my mother was dragged down the stairs for no reason. You’re Asian. So I got a little scared and told my mom, “You’re not going anywhere without me.” We got pepper spray and everything. But it definitely makes a difference because even if you don’t know them, you just feel a connection with them. ”
– American-born Taiwanese woman, early 20s
“I think as a result of the pandemic, there has been an increase in anti-Asian hate in the media, and I think that’s when I realized that as an Asian person, I was having a really hard time. I felt a lot of fear and a lot of anger and frustration for the community…I think it was just that moment where I saw Asian hate, Asian hate crimes, and I was like, “Oh, they’re attacking my people. I realized that I was being targeted. I don’t know how to explain it exactly. I have never publicly identified myself as Asian American, but I have never been aware of the way people who look like me or are related to me are being hurt and abused in the media. I felt angry at that community, my community. ”
– American-born Korean woman in her late teens
Some linked discrimination during the pandemic to other times when anti-Asian discrimination has escalated. For example, one woman linked anti-Asian discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic to the period after September 11th.
“The hate crimes I’m reading about right now are against Chinese (people) because of the coronavirus, but I remember after 9/11, I mean, the looks people gave me on the subway. I remember, I was also reading that article, “All kinds of violent acts committed against Indians, just chaos – I mean chaos, but in reality they were attacking Muslims.” I wanted to attack them, but they didn’t care, they were just looking for brown people to attack. So there’s always something that suddenly happens to one community or another. ”
– American-born Indian male, late 40s
