The Long History of Anti-Asian Racism in the US
Content warning: anti-Asian violence described
In the first few months of 2021, we have seen a surge in violent attacks against Asian-Americans across the nation. An elderly Asian man was pushed to the ground during his morning walk in San Francisco and died two days later from the assault. A Vietnamese woman was assaulted and robbed in San Jose, and a Filipino man was slashed across the face on a New York subway.
Since the onset of COVID, anti-Asian bias and violence increased exponentially. NYPD reports an increase of hate crimes against the Asian-American community by 1,900%. The organization, Stop AAPI Hate, has received almost 3,800 reports of hate crimes against Asian-Americans since March 2020.
Violence against the Asian-American population is not new to pandemic times. In fact, Asian-Americans have faced discrimination and violence as long as they have lived in the United States. From “yellow peril” to Executive Order 9066 to today, Asian-Americans have experienced the violence of racism throughout the history of the U.S.
Each act of violence against the Asian-American community sends the same message: Asian-Americans are foreign invaders here to antagonize and threaten the American order. Not only do acts of violence stem from assumptions made about a group based on how they look, but many also view Asian ethnicities as interchangeable. American history will demonize one ethnic group, but all Asian-Americans–regardless of ethnicity or immigration status–become targets of this hate.
“How John May Dodge the Exclusion Act” by J.S. Pughe - In this illustration, Uncle Sam’s boot is kicking out a stereotypical Chinese figure, and the image is surrounded by ways Chinese people might try to “sneak in” the United States
Library of Congress, circa 1905
Gold Rush: 1849 - 1882
The first wave of Asian immigration to the United States was in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush. From the beginning, Chinese immigrants were run out of mining towns, displaced through violence and were denied the status of being considered American. Numerous towns and settlements with Chinese populations were burned down. Additionally, there are records of lynching and riots against Chinese people across the West.
Then, in 1854, the California Supreme Court ruled in People v. Hall that the testimony of a Chinese man was inadmissible in a murder trial because Chinese people were considered inferior. A white man killed a Chinese miner and was essentially freed because of this ruling, which set the precedent that Chinese-Americans cannot testify against white people in criminal proceedings. This made accountability and justice for the violence against Chinese communities even harder to achieve.
Chinese Exclusion Act: 1882 - 1943
Signed into law in May 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. In 1892, it was extended for another ten years, and then, in 1902, it was made permanent. It was not removed from law until 1943 when China and the U.S. were allies in World War II.
Later, in 1924, the Immigration Act of 1924 expanded the provisions of the Chinese Exclusion Act to bar the immigration of people from all Asian countries, except the Philippines which was under the imperialist rule of the United States at the time.
Bubonic Plague of San Francisco: 1900 - 1904
In 1900, the bubonic plague made it to the United States for the first time. A 41-year-old Chinese man, Chick Gin, was found in a San Francisco hotel basement. Soon after, San Francisco’s Chinatown was put under a strict lockdown. Throughout the epidemic, California officials repeatedly denied that there was a problem as federal scientists tried to curb the spread.
According to Chris Kwok, a board member of the Asian American Bar Association, sentiments towards the Chinese community in San Francisco resemble sentiments towards Asian-Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Today, he said “The association with the disease — they're dirty, they're contaminating our country — is consistent with the idea of the aliens that cannot become a part of America.”
Executive Order 9066: 1942 - 1948
In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which incarcerated people of Japanese descent, regardless of citizenship status. The incarceration affected the lives of 117,000 people, most of whom were American citizens.
The anti-Japanese sentiments that led to this injustice labeled Japanese-Americans as “disloyal traitors” who posed a threat to the safety of America during World War II.
When the order was issued, Japanese-Americans had six days to dispose of belongings they could not carry with them. They were restricted to “relocation centers” that were surrounded by watchtowers and barbed wire. Two of these “relocation centers” in Arizona were located on Indigenous reservations despite resistance from Indigenous leaders.
Violence occurred regularly in these eradication centers. One center required the people who were incarcerated to march two miles to the camp, and there were multiple instances of people being shot and killed for trying to flee or getting too close to the perimeter.
The centers closed in 1948, and Congress paid around $38 million in reparations to those who were incarcerated. However, it was not until 1988 that a formal apology was issued by Congress, and affected individuals who were still living received $20,000 each.
Japanese Americans at a WWII internment camp in North Portland, Oregon 1942
Murder of Vincent Chin: 1982
In 1982, Vincent Chin was a 27-year-old, Chinese-American man celebrating his bachelor party with friends. After being mistaken for being Japanese, two white autoworkers picked a fight with him. They were kicked out of the club and then searched for Vincent. Eventually, they found him outside a McDonald’s and beat him with a bat. Four days later, Vincent died.
During the 1980s, the recession caused increased unemployment in the auto industry. At the same time, Japanese automobiles were becoming more popular in the United States. The men who killed Vincent Chin allegedly said “It's because of you little m—f—s that we're out of work,” before starting the fight. The killers struck a plea bargain and were sentenced to only three years of probation and a $3,000 fine.
This case marked a turning point in Asian-American activism. This catalyzed the Asian community to fight in solidarity with the civil rights movement, transforming conversations about race from biracial (black and white) to multiracial.
Post-9/11 to Present
After 9/11, there was a sharp spike in hate violence and rhetoric towards South Asian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Middle Eastern communities in the United States. In an interview with PBS, Hari Kondabolu recalls being just as scared of terrorism as everyone else, while facing xenophobic attacks despite being born and raised in Queens.
During the 2016 election cycle, hate violence and rhetoric towards these communities surged back to post-9/11 levels. Between November 2015 and November 2016, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) documented 207 incidents of hate violence and xenophobic or Islamophobic rhetoric. SAALT also reported that 21% of the comments were made by Donald Trump. The vast majority of documented acts were fueled by anti-Muslim sentiments.
History Repeats Itself
This is not an exhaustive list of violence against Asian-Americans in the United States. The history of violence and hate towards Asian-American communities is the same story over and over again. Since the beginning of Asian migration to the United States in the 1850s, Asian communities have been victim to hate that is fueled by Orientalism, xenophobia and the perpetual foreigner stereotype.
Despite being here for over 170 years, Asian-Americans are told repeatedly that we do not belong here. We are not real Americans, and we need to go back to where we came from - even if we are from here. Additionally, because of the model minority myth, racism against Asian-Americans is often dismissed or minimized.
Our communities have been facing violence since the moment we got here. COVID-19 exacerbated the already present violence against our communities. All of which came to a boiling point on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, when a white man killed eight people in Atlanta, Georgia. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent. This tragic event was the pinnacle of sexism and racism Asian-American women have been experiencing for a long time. Still, the violence is minimized by the Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
The violence and hatred towards Asian-Americans cannot be ignored any longer. It is time to stop Asian hate.
To support the fight to stop hate and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders check out stopaapihate and their gofundme.
By Coralyn Maguigad
