Asian Americans file hundreds of discrimination complaints to coronavirus reporting center

An online tool launched a week ago for reporting cases of discrimination against Asians during the coronavirus pandemic has fielded more than 670 complaints, ranging from being spat on to being denied transportation.

The STOP AAPI HATE online reporting center, created March 19 by advocacy organizations Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and the Chinese for Affirmative Action, provides a means to detail incidents of microaggressions and harassment related to COVID-19.

Here, the organizations can track and collect the reported discriminatory acts against Asian Americans in the U.S. and beyond. The reports have averaged about 100 a day.

About 32 percent of the incidents occurred in California, according a first weekly report written and compiled by Russell Jeung, Ph.D., chair and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University.

Six out of 155 incidents in California happened in Sacramento and Roseville, Jeung said. All six respondents encountered verbal harassment at grocery stores and shopping centers. Some said they experienced people coughing and laughing behind their backs and looking at them with disgust.

Verbal harassment and name-calling are the most commonly reported type of discrimination, making up two-thirds of the reports, followed by shunning and physical assaults. Jeung said the results show the discrimination incidents are widespread, and represent a fraction what Asian Americans are facing nationwide.

“It is harrowing if you read through the statements (of the reports),” Jeung said. “People will swear and yell at the elderly and children. It does speak to the volume and vitriol of scapegoating that is going on right now.”

An example from the weekly report : “I took a walk with a friend of mine in CA. While we were passing a group of 4 men, one of them coughed into me, not once, but twice, without covering his mouth. As I turned my head back, they all burst out laughing. They then biked away. “

And: “As I was walking to my bus, a white, middle-aged man screamed at me to ‘wear a respirator’ because I’m Asian.”

Different ethnicities are included, as 61 percent of the reports are from non-Chinese.

Many incidents occurred in businesses, especially stores. Others faced discrimination in workplaces.

Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, said it is disconcerting to see the rise in hate incidents.

“This is only scratching the surface because we haven’t even publicized the site very widely,” she said.

While many incidents do not require immediate action such as providing legal assistance, they still inflict pain and cause harm to the community, said Manjusha Kulkarni, Executive Director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council.

She added that people should get immediate help by calling 911 when encountering physical attacks.

“We want people to be safe, first and foremost,” Kulkarni said.

Public education will be key to counter the misinformation and racial targeting during the public health crisis, according to Choi.

Aggressors usually feel emboldened and licensed to harass people verbally because they feel as though they are speaking on behalf of what most people think, Choi said.

“But in reality, most people know this is wrong. So if more people can stand up and drown out this racism and xenophobia, this is the way we are going to counter the discrimination Asian Americans are facing today,” she added.

The groups saw the need for this service following the uptick in reports of anti-Asian acts stemming from the spread of the coronavirus and rhetoric associating it with China. President Donald Trump has referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus.”

All personal information recorded in the online forms is kept confidential and only shared with permission.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 4:19 PM.