Key Takeaways

•  Reaching out to the elected officials is a solution that entails contacting elected officials in and beyond the Asian-American communities to discuss anti-Asian discrimination and formulate necessary laws to protect against anti-Asian violence and discrimination.
• The Asian American Federation has created resources such as the Stay Safe from Hate booklet, safety videos featuring self-defense techniques, and free resources to help individuals de-escalate tense situations and intervene to protect others.
•  Reporting hate incidents is a potential solution to a violent incident or public safety concern. The report can be made to existing community organizations and/or calling 911 immediately when there is extreme danger.
• According to Today Times, a survey by a global anti-harassment organization found out that 79% of the participants indicated that bystander interventions to stop the harassment improved the situation. During the survey, only 25% of the participants indicated that someone helped them when they faced targeted violence. These statistics show that increased refinement and use of bystander intervention tactics can successfully solve anti-Asian violence and harassment in America.
•  Calling out anti-Asia racism is a potential solution for Asian-American harassment and violence that entails acknowledging that anti-Asian racism exists and speaking out against it.

Introduction

Solutions for Asian-American Harassment

Reach out to Elected Officials

•  Reaching out to the elected officials is a solution that entails contacting elected officials in and beyond the Asian-American communities to discuss anti-Asian discrimination and formulate necessary laws to protect against anti-Asian violence and discrimination.
• Asian American lawmakers have testified before a congressional committee about discrimination and violence against Asian Americans. This is the first hearing on anti-Asian hate before Congress since 1987.
• The success of this solution lies in more and more elected officials debating the issue of Anti-Asian discrimination and violence and formulating requisite legislation. Active voicing of Asian American-targeted hate and violence in Congress by the Asian-American elected official is a successful step towards passing hate crime legislation to protect Asian Americans against harassment and violence.
• According to CNBC, lawmakers testifying before the House Judicial Committee called for passing hate crime legislation to address discrimination and violence targeting Asian Americans. Also, the congressional hearing led to recommendations to change public rhetoric about Covid-19 and foreign policy.
• The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund’s senior staff attorney, Stanley Mark, give an expert opinion on how to effectively address the issue of anti-Asian discrimination and violence. With more than 20 years of experience, Mark indicates that political leadership and reinvention in community-based solutions are the remedies to systemic racism violent incidents against Asian communities.
• The Asian American Advocacy Fund is one of the organizations actively advising to contact elected officials regarding certain bills and votes that impact Asian American communities.
• NAPAWF is involved in preparing petitions that ask elected officials to consider the affected communities’ needs, address systemic racism, attend to the needs of victims.

Provide Crisis Intervention Resources

• According to PBS NewsHour, Asian Americans experiencing targeted violence, attack, and discrimination require crisis intervention resources such as legal resources, immigration services, employment opportunities, and mental health services.
• Following the March 16 killings targeted to Asian Americans, Asian American Leaders in Georgia called for robust and responsive crisis intervention resources by the local and state government. The resources they asked for include “in-language support for mental health, legal, employment, and immigration services.”
• According to Healthline, research on issues affecting Asian Americans shows that these communities do not have access to enough services and resources to address their needs. Poverty, limited access to mental health, and inadequate economic opportunities for Asian-Americans make them vulnerable to discrimination, violence, and hate. Therefore, providing Asians with enough political, social, and economic resources can help protect them against targeted discrimination and violence.
• The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) provides pro bono legal assistance (legal resources) to the victims of hate crimes or hate incidents.
• The success of this solution depends on the adequacy of the tools and resources to prevent and fight against discrimination and violence targeted on Asian Americans. Based on this realization, the objective of NAPABA is to equip the Asian community with the necessary tools to address hate-fueled attacks.
• The Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) and NAPABA have teamed up to offer a hate crime/incident toolkit that “provides basic and critical information for victims, community-based organizations, and community leaders.”
• The Asian American Federation has created resources such as the Stay Safe from Hate booklet, safety videos featuring self-defense techniques, and free resources to help individuals de-escalate tense situations and intervene to protect others.

Report the Hate Crime or Incident

•  Reporting hate incidents is a potential solution to a violent incident or public safety concern. The report can be made to existing community organizations and/or calling 911 immediately when there is extreme danger.
• The Center for Public Integrity, millions of victims of hate crimes fail to report incidences of hate. Asian-Americans fear reporting racially biased crimes and incidences to allow for prosecution.
• Increased reporting rate of the hate crimes or incidences can increase prosecution of the perpetrators, making this solution successful. Reporting hate incidents and hate crimes to organizations like Stop AAPI Hate helps in the collection of data and stories to be used in advocating for policy changes and inform service allocation for effective addressing and preventing anti-Asian harassment and attacks.
• The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) offers pro bono guidance on reporting hate crimes to law enforcement.
• The Stop AAPI Hate provides a reporting center where people can share experiences of anti-Asian discrimination and violence in multiple languages. The organization has been tracking the reported incidences across the U.S.

Bystander Intervention Tactics

• This solution for anti-Asian discrimination and violence entails employing bystander intervention tactics to respond to anti-Asian violence safely.
• According to Today Times, a survey by a global anti-harassment organization found out that 79% of the participants indicated that bystander interventions to stop the harassment improved the situation. During the survey, only 25% of the participants indicated that someone helped them when they faced targeted violence. These statistics show that increased refinement and use of bystander intervention tactics can successfully solve anti-Asian violence and harassment in America.
• Bystander Intervention tactics will be a successful solution if as many as possible members of the society become aware and intervene in addressing anti-Asian discrimination and violence. The communication in bystander intervention training is that there is a need to respond to even the apparently inconsequential behaviors. Such response is a step towards contributing to the society where there is clarity that such objectionable behaviors are unacceptable.
• The Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) has partnered with Hollaback! to offer bystander intervention training in response to increasing anti-Asian harassment and violence.
• According to Time Today, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund has been at the forefront championing for the protection and promoting the civil rights of Asian Americans since 1974.

Calling Out Anti-Asian Racism

• Calling out anti-Asia racism is a potential solution for issues related to Asian-American harassment and violence that entails acknowledging that anti-Asian racism exists and speaking out against it.
• Experts argue that the model minority myth mythically characterizes the Asian community as compliant, successful, and doing well, obscuring the reality of the community’s struggles.
• Michelle Kim, the Chief Executive Officer at the diversity training provider Awaken, indicates that continued upholding of the model minority myth makes some people not see anti-Asian racism as an issue.
•  Acknowledging that anti-Asian racism exists will be a step towards success in addressing the issue because it will result in many people calling out discrimination, harassment, violence, and racism targeted to the Asian-American communities.
• Stop AAPI Hate is a national coalition that is actively documenting and addressing anti-Asian discrimination and hate incidents. Such reports are helping people acknowledge that anti-Asian racism exists, and there is a need to can it out.

Research Strategy