Thread: The article and its headline claims that anti-Asian hate crimes in the US are "fueled by misinformation"...a bizarre way to explain racist hate crimes...and the claim lacks evidence in the article. edition.cnn.com/2022/01/29/us/… 
For instance the article notes several attacks but doesn't provide evidence the perpetrators had read any "misinformation"...more likely the attacks were motivated purely by hate and the privilege that these perpetrators have in thinking they can attack one community.
One thing the article, which discusses New York a lot, doesn't ask is the identity of the perpetrators. And that might reveal something that we don't want to ask about, sort of like we don't want to ask about antisemitic attacks. Because it may not be just a simple story.
It's easier to put this up to "Covid misinformation"...without doing a survey or interviews with the perpetrators. Is it really because they listened to a podcast or read something online and then push a woman into an oncoming train? Or is there more going on here,outright racism
We live in an era where we want simple stories about racism, for instance defining racism as only being by one group against another...we don't want to see the elephant of racism in the room and attacks on minority groups by other minorities, for instance. .
So there are rising anti-Asian violent attacks, like violent anti-semitic attacks...and to put it down to "misinformation" fueling it...I think is highly doubtful. I think we have a lot of racist hate that becomes violent due to privilege...the privilege that was given to haters.
We have instances in NY where there are violent hate crimes and attacks and the perpetrators aren't prosecuted or immediately get released. That is privilege. And it's not "misinformation" that drives this...it's the feeling some have that they can "randomly" attack people.
The assertion that if we just give the violent folk some "good information" then they won't randomly attack people, push people into trains, bash them while they leave their house, attack their small businesses...shout at them...come on....let's be honest...
The idea that if we just say "hey, you got bad information...before you push a person in front of a train, can I share a better podcast about Covid with you"...that's not what is going on. It's about racist violence...and a violent society driving this, impunity and privilege
Are the rising attacks driven in part by the pandemic...yes maybe...but it's the violence you have to focus on. People don't get misinformation and become violent...they are already violent and they feel impunity to use violence. That's what has happened.
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