Thread by @kimmythepooh

My latest: A new @StopAAPIHate report revealed nearly 3,800 incidents reported over the course of ~1yr during the pandemic. Women made up a far higher share of the reports at 68 percent, compared to men, who made up 29 percent of respondents.

nbcnews.com/news/asian-ame…

Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and the forum’s founder, said that the coalescence of racism and sexism, including the stereotype that Asian women are meek and subservient, likely factors into this disparity.

While the numbers are significantly higher compared to last year's data, Jeung cautioned against calling this a "surge" as many of the 2020 incidents were reported retroactively in 2021, and there has always been a “clear” issue of underreporting in the community.

The wave of violence directed at AAPI seniors @ the beginning of 2021, particularly the graphic attacks captured on video, likely prompted more attention from both the community and mainstream media, he said. it’s galvanized a vocal response, that’s likely led to more reporting.

While these attacks on elders have catalyzed calls for action, Jeung makes a distinction btwn this particular violence, most of which have not been found to be explicitly racially motivated, & the racism those in the community have been facing due to the link btwn the virus &AAPI

“I think there are separate trends, the violence that we're seeing now and the racism we saw last year, but they are related,” Jeung said.

“We're really careful to note that this violence against Asian Americans in high crime neighborhoods has always been high. And so the combination of both the racism from last year and crimes against Asian elderly are now significant enough to get national attention.”

The scholar notes that this doesn’t negate the possibility of implicit bias in these attacks on elders, however he cautions against grouping the 2 trends as 1 issue.

“That's the problem— people conflate it,” he said. “So decoupling them then helps diagnose different solutions.”