WHY IS ASIAN HATE CRIME ON THE RISE?

One of the most beautiful things in this world  is that each and every human being is unique in regards to talent, accent, physical appearance and so on and so forth.The creator who created us knew how  boring it would be if all human beings looked alike and had the same qualities and capabilities,so he blessed all of us with uniqueness. However in the recent times the uniqueness of physical appearance has proved to be a nightmare for a particular segment of people.Initially it was the black people who were the victims of Racism and the brutal killing of George Floyd a 46 year old African American man proved to be a glaring example of the dire consequences of racism. The aftermath of the incident saw massive protests in the United States and around the world. An estimated 15 million to 26 million people participated in the 2020 Black lives matter protests in the United States,making it one of the largest movements in the country's history. The movement comprises many views and a broad array of demands but they center on criminal justice reform.

 While on one hand the Black lives matter movement had begun to gather momentum in United States and around the world, on the other hand the whole of humanity was involved in a deadly combat against an invisible enemy- the 2019 novel coronavirus disease which is far from over at this point of time. In the meantime reports started to surface online claiming that covid-19 is a manmade disease.Chinese virologist Dr Li- Meng Yan claimed that the novel coronavirus was made in a government controlled laboratory in Wuhan and asserted that she has scientific proof to back the claim. This shocking claim triggered tremendous hate against Asian people in general and Chinese people in particular.

While in other parts of the world reports of Asian hate crime are negligible but in America violence against Asian Americans are on a steep rise.On March 16,2021,a series of mass shooting occurred at three spas in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, United States.Eight people were killed,six of whom were Asian women,and one other person was wounded.A suspect 21-year old Robert Aaron Long,was taken into custody later that day. Following the shootings, mass protests against anti-Asian violence have occurred in cities across the United States and the world. As if this was not enough, on April 15,2021,a mass shooting occurred at a FedEx ground facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.There were nine fatalities in the shooting including the gunman. Four of the victims were members of the Sikh community. The tragic incident comes as the country has witnessed a recent wave of anti- Asian hate crimes during this pandemic after a broader increase in hate motivated crimes and violence against the range of American communities. However, the exact reason as to what motivated the shooter for such a brutal act is not clearly known.

 Some other recently reported attacks are:

1.An 84-year old Thai immigrant in San Francisco,California died in January after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk. 

2.An 89-  year old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn New York.

  3.A stranger on the New York Subway slashed a 61-year old Filipino American passenger's face with a box cutter.

4.A School Board candidate of Vietnamese descent in Portland Oregon found a derogatory note with the words "Kung flu"on her doorstep. 

Image courtesy:Stop AAPI Hate Reporting center and BBC

So the ultimate question remains what is the reason for such a hatred against Asian Americans?Well some have directly blamed the anti-China rhetoric of former President Donald Trump who often made mention of the pandemic as the China virus or the " Kung flu".According to Amanda Nguyen, an  activist and the founder of the Rise civil rights not for profit organisation, people attacking Asian Americans since the pandemic began "Can't really differentiate and don't care if we are X, Y or Z"." They have made us a scapegoat to enact their violence".

 It is said that, "man is the architect of his own destiny". However, in my opinion, there are certain things that are not in our hands like where we are born,to whom we are born and when we are born. This brings me to a very important question, Is it sensible enough to abuse and kill people on the basis of their ethnicity? their cultural background? on the basis of something they have no control over?I hope we all have the wisdom to answer this question and the rest I leave it to the fine sense of judgement of my readers.