Asian American groups call for crackdown on racism in coronavirus era

A coalition of Asian American groups has called on the state to establish a task force to investigate hundreds of racist incidents in California against people of Asian descent since the coronavirus pandemic, which began in China, hit the U.S., including one at Torrance’s Wilson Park that was caught on video and went viral on the internet.

Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate, which has aggregated data on these incidents, said during a Wednesday, July 1, teleconference that Asian Americans had self-reported 832 incidents of discrimination statewide, including 81 assaults and 64 potential civil rights violations, in the last three months. More than 70% of the incidents involved verbal harassment or name-calling.

While the verbal altercation in Torrance was among the most high-profile cases, having spread throughout the country via social media, the coalition on Wednesday also discussed several other specific incidents that have occurred across California — since the pandemic began.

“The viral video of racism in Torrance is one example of hundreds,” said Professor Russell Jeung, chair of the Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University.

“It’s the tip of the iceberg of anti Asian American hate and discrimination,” he added. “Without government accountability, we risk COVID-related racism against Asian Americans becoming deeply entrenched, ultimately impacting the lives of millions of people in California and around the country.”

Stop AAPI Hate is a coalition of the university, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action.

The coalition on Wednesday called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the issue by establishing what it calls a Racial Bias Strike Team comprising key state agencies and departments that have jurisdiction over public education, civil rights laws and discrimination.

The coronavirus originated in Wuhan, China, and some — including President Donald Trump — have cast blame on China for the virus’s spread, including by using racist language. Trump, for example, has begun refering to the virus as “kungflu.”

The coalition, in a letter sent to Newsom on Tuesday, criticized Trump.

“Given the continuing use of racist rhetoric to scapegoat Asian-Americans by President Trump and other elected officials, it is even more critical that key state agencies work to proactively address anti Asian-American discrimination, harassment, and assaults,” the letter reads. “In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and demands to address structural racism and not just in policing, the strike team must appropriately include other communities of color disproportionately affected by the current crisis and calls for racial justice.”

Specific remedies the coalition would like enacted include “strengthening the enforcement of existing laws that protect the rights of individuals.”

Coalition members observed Wednesday that the person caught on video yelling at an Asian American woman working out at the park  has yet to be charged with any crime.

Hate speech, though, is protected under the First Amendment, making prosecution for verbal harassment difficult. The majority of reported incidents in the report do not rise to the level of a hate crime, coalition members said.

The Torrance Police Department will determine by week’s end whether the accused woman will be charged with a misdemeanor, the most serious charge prosecutors can file, said South Bay Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, who took part in the news conference.

He also recounted other racist incidents in Torrance, including a note left on a Japanese American business that contained a threat to bomb the store.

“These series of acts of racism targeting Asian Americans are ugly, disgusting and they’re simply not acceptable,” said Muratsuchi, a former school board member who lived in the city for 20 years. “We need to send a message that racism against anyone, against any group, is simply not acceptable.”