CW: Racism
BY JESSIE WEN-
#StopAsianHate has become one of the trending hashtags on the internet across social media platforms, catalysed in response to the killing of six Asian women in a massage parlour at the hands of a 21-year-old white male in Atlanta, Georgia. The incident has added lost lives to the growing list of violent Asian hate crimes seen in the United States, and globally including Australia.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, Human Rights Watch has reported an increase in anti-Asian racism globally, including in Western democracies such as the UK, France and Canada. The report demonstrates a stark rise in racist hate speech and crimes targeted at those from Asian backgrounds and those taken to be perceived as Asian, targeting most notably the women and the elderly. The Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism reports that whilst overall hate crimes had decreased by 7% in 2020 within the United States, those targeted at Asian-Americans had risen by nearly 150%. The Stop APPI Hate Centre in the United States reported receiving about 3800 reports of hate crime incidents from March 2020 to February 2021. These racial attacks against the Asian diaspora worldwide has only been further exacerbated by political rhetoric from world leaders, headed by past US President Donald Trump calling the pandemic the ‘China Virus’, a personification of the disease that links it intimately to a specific ethnicity. Other politicians have perpetuated this othering effect towards Asians, including Australian One Nation’s Leader Pauline Hanson in Australia, and Brazilian former Foreign Minister, Ernesto Araujo.
Unfortunately, Australia has not been exempt from the rise of anti-Asian racism, especially instances exacerbated by the pandemic. A report surveying more than 3000 people, published by the Australian National University in late October 2020, found that more than 8 in 10 Asian-Australians had experienced discrimination that was COVID-19related in that year. Furthermore, a database organised by the advocacy network Asian Australian Alliance (AAA) in April 2020 received 178 reports of hate crime in two weeks. It is important to remember that these numbers are likely to be much higher, as noted by Queensland police commissioner Katarina Carroll in April 2020, given that many racist incidents were underreported. This idea correlates with the AAA’s findings in early 2020, where it was discovered that only 5.6% of those surveyed had gone to the police after.
Within the public, sighted occurrences where Asian-Australians have been aggressively targeted, robbed, assaulted or verbally abused have been reported numerously. For example, the ABC recently reported that a Chinese Australian family in Melbourne’s East were targeted two nights in a row, with ‘COVID-19 China Die’ vandalised on their garage in red spray paint, and a window suffering a large rock being smashed through early in the morning. Across the states and territories in Australia, videos depicting female individuals being intimidated and attacked on the streets have also become viral on the internet; their aggressors were shouting threats such as ‘we’re going to kill you’, ‘Asian dogs’, and ‘you Chinese virus spreader’.
Whilst it is true that recent events have occurred mainly through the lens of the pandemic, it also reflects the undeniable reality of racism that continues to pervade multicultural democracies, both systemic and at the individual level. Xenophobia targeted towards the Asian community has been a prevalent issue in the US for centuries, dating back to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The White Australia Policy beginning in 1901 mimics this sentiment, excluding immigrants of non-European descent, mainly Asian and Pacific-Islanders, from entering the country. Whilst change has been made, the resurgence in racism across different racial groups in response to global events, such as COVID-19, demonstrates that there is still much work to be done. As the Australian Human Rights Commission reports, racism today has seen 1 in 5 Australians experience race-hate talk and more than 1 in 20 Australians being physically attacked.
Since the recent Black Lives Matter movement, issues of long-standing racial prejudice and injustice against minorities have increasingly become a main topic of discussion, creating a wider ripple impact and spurring greater activism internationally. Now, with the denial of the Atlanta attack by the police as ‘non racially motivated’, this has been met with widespread criticism and outcries.
The immediate response from communities has centred around public condemnation of the issue. Grass root organisations and big media companies, and celebrities have joined in creating greater awareness against Asian discrimination.
In Victoria, the Andrews Government has introduced local anti racism initiatives grants of up to $500,000, in support of community organisations tackling racism. Yet there remains to be seen a unified policy or program at the Federal level. Instead, we have seen Prime Minister Scott Morrison only publicly condemn the rise in anti- Asian racism. However, as Erin Chew, the activist and writer behind the AAA has noted, “The only way to combat this racism is to speak up and to be united against this hate”. As such, there requires more to be done.
According to the Human Rights Commission, Canberra has lacked a national anti-racism strategy since 2018. This is a concerning reality, and in light of recent events, demonstrates the inadequacy of national government bodies at addressing racism issues beyond the surface level. As Professor Biddle from the ANU Social Research Methods explains, “Government’s have a responsibility to carefully design and implement anti-discrimination laws.” In light of this, Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan has submitted a national anti racism framework concept paper calling on the Federal Government to take action, highlighting “racism [as] an economic, social and national security threat to Australia..[with] [t]oo many Australians..regularly the targets of racism.”It is yet to be clear what the Morrison Government’s stance is on this and whether action will be taken.
As Martin Luther King Jr once said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. It is imperative for the government to take action. By making an active stand against racist ideology and discrimination, we can create a safer space for all Australians.
Note from the author:
If you would like to report a racist anti Asian hate crime, visit this form.
To read more on the findings of the Australian Asian Alliance Covid 19 Racism report, visit this link.
Jessie is a third year law and international relations student at Monash University. She is particularly interested in Australia’s relationship and interests with the Indo-Pacific Region. Connect with Jessie on LinkedIn.
