The Troubling History of Violence against Asian Americans and How to Stop AAPI Hate

By Carmelle F. Alipio and Preetha Suresh Rini

Below is an excerpt from this month's blog post from the YLD Special Committee for
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

In recent months, there has been a resurgence of anti-Asian American sentiment. According to the Anti-Defamation League, former President Trump’s anti-China statements, such as rhetoric blaming China for the COVID-19 pandemic and referring to the coronavirus as the “China plague” or “kung flu,” resulted in an 85 percent increase in anti-Asian sentiment. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism reported a 150 percent surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans over the past year. Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition addressing anti-Asian hate amid the pandemic and incident reporting website, released a national report covering the March 2020–February 2021 period. According to the report, 3,795 hate incidents were reported to Stop AAPI Hate; a mere fraction of the number of anti-Asian hate incidents that have actually occurred during the past year. Chinese respondents equaled about 42.2 percent of the total number of people affected, with Korean (14.8 percent) and Vietnamese (8.5 percent) respondents following. Most discriminatory acts reported fall under verbal harassment/name calling (68.1 percent), avoidance/shunning (20.5 percent), and physical assault (11.1 percent).

In part because of the history or racism against Asians in the United States, Asian American lawyers have historically faced exclusion in the profession. They continue to be significantly underrepresented in the legal profession.