By Dennis L. Taylor, Monterey Herald
MONTEREY — The fear, anger and sadness Asian-Americans on the Monterey Peninsula are experiencing following the murder of six Asian women in Atlanta last week and the brutal attacks on Asian seniors in San Francisco are palpable.
As of Feb. 28, Asian-American groups have reported 3,795 racist incidents against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders during the pandemic, according to data released Tuesday.
The violence has been stark, but racism comes in other forms as well, such as verbal harassment and shunning.
Erika Lee is a Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of Minnesota and the director of the Immigration History Research Center. She is also the sister of Community Foundation for Monterey County Vice President Laurel Lee-Alexander.
On Thursday, Lee testified before Congress citing statistics that hate crimes targeting Asian people have risen by nearly 150% in 16 of America’s largest cities.
In 2018, the FBI’s hate crime statistics recorded 148 anti-Asian hate incidents, Lee said. From March to the end of December 2020, Stop AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islanders) Hate recorded over 2,800 reports of racist incidents from 47 states and the District of Columbia.
“As shocking as these incidents are, it is vital to understand that they are not random acts perpetrated by deranged individuals,” Lee said. “They are an expression of our country’s long history of systemic racism and racial violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”
But while the violence that has erupted with the presidency of Donald Trump, who infamously called COVID-19 the “China flu” or interchangeably the “Kung flu,” has not been seen in this intensity in many decades, anti-Asian sentiment is nothing new for those who call the Monterey Peninsula home some say.
Carmel area resident Erin Morita, whose father, Pat Morita, was interred during World War II but then went on to star as Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid,” said her “antennae” have gone up a lot since the start of the pandemic.
“I can feel it,” she said. “My children are mixed race, and since 2016 I have had growing apprehension for my children and their friends. My dad would be crying, but he would be burning up the phone lines coming up with creative ideas to give people alternatives to the ugliness and violence they are seeing.”
What many Asian-Americans are saying is that this new brand of racism is a problem everyone from all communities should address.
“Non-Asians can help by seeing if someone in their neighborhood is being victimized and then stand with them,” she said. “Go stand on their porch together and be a dissuasive. Be a witness; talk about what you see, start discussions and be kind.”
Carmel artist Belle Yang said she has from time to time experienced racism dating back to when she was a girl in middle school but had generally shrugged it off as “just a crazy person.”
“But with recent events, it has become much much more,” she said. “I’m realizing I’m not as safe as I thought I was.”
Yang, who immigrated with her parents from Taiwan when she was 7, has written books (www.belleyang.com) about her experiences, including being a witness to the 1989 killings in Tiananmen Square while in art school in Beijing.
“I’m realizing that I can still use my voice and not be inconsequential,” Yang said. “I can fight back.”
Others are feeling the strain as well. Lotus Chen, a Chinese national and a recent graduate of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, said what is happening in America today is deflating.
“I came to the U.S. in the hope of receiving advanced education and to experience what American movies depicted as a shining beacon of democracy,” she said. “However, we have experienced the worst time period for the Sino-U.S. relationship. My American dream has been broken.”
Both women said that while not downplaying the violence, it is an exception and that they both experience regular acts of kindness on the Peninsula. But there needs to be a change.
“Unless we are intentional and aware about what we are witnessing and experiencing, there won’t be enough progress toward getting along in a diverse community,” Morita said. “We won’t have evolved internally or spiritually enough.”
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