Anti-Asian hate crimes up 149% in US in 2020: media

Among 16 US cities, overall hate crimes dropped by 7 percent, but anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 149 percent in 2020, reported KREM 2 news.

Across the country, there have been a number of disturbing acts of hate against Asian Americans making headlines.

The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, studies these types of events.

In 2019, there were 49 documented cases of hate crimes with anti-Asian bias in the 16 cities studied, while in 2020 there were 122 cases. 

A report published in July 2020 from the Pew Research Center found 58 percent of Asian adults said it was more common for people to "express racist or racially insensitive views about people who are Asian than it was before the coronavirus outbreak".

The research suggests the uptick in this type of racist behavior is connected to the pandemic. According to the report, the number of hate crimes reported to law enforcement rose 40 percent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 to 2020 when the pandemic was widespread.

And the Pew Research Center study found "about 4 in 10 US adults say it has become more common for people to express racist views toward Asians since the pandemic began."

Stop AAPI Hate, a center tracking reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans, has received thousands of self-reported incidents, the majority of which are not reported to law enforcement. Between March 19, 2020, and March 31, 2021, 6,603 anti-Asian hate incidents were recorded through Stop AAPI Hate.