# Anti-Asian hate crimes in California **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2021, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576 "2021-02-10T06:44:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2021, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/1 "2021-02-10T06:44:52Z")
> **[Covid fueled anti-Asian racism. Now elderly Asian Americans are being attacked.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/09/attacks-asian-american-elderly-/)** > > Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced the creation of a special response unit to investigate crimes against Asian Americans, especially the elderly. The Bay Area has seen a rash of such incidents. Looks absolutely horrible. Anyone have any personal experience or knowledge of incidents like these? Any ideas about what’s driving this spike? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/2 "2021-02-11T13:18:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Any ideas about what’s driving this spike? I imagine trump calling Covid the “China Virus” approximately 37,000 times had something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/3 "2021-02-11T17:26:54Z")
Here is a non-paywalled article from CNN that covers what I presume is the same ground, as well as providing some validation for **solost** ’s theory. > **[Rise in attacks on elderly Asian Americans in Bay Area prompts new special...](https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/08/us/asian-american-attacks-bay-area/index.html)** > > Several unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans, including at least three in the Bay Area captured in disturbing videos in recent days, have raised concerns about anti-Asian bias related to the Covid-19 pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![Astrid1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Astrid1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astrid1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/4 "2021-02-11T23:43:19Z")
At the beginning of the pandemic period we had some discriminations against Asian or Asian looking people. Some restaurants put a sign outside the door saying “no Chinese admitted”, and TV reported that some Asian were told to go back to their homes while walking on the street The reason is of course the name mass media gave to the virus : the Chinese virus ---
**Author:** ![ZosterSandstorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e0b2c6/32.png) [@ZosterSandstorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZosterSandstorm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/5 "2021-02-11T23:59:27Z")
How many people in San Francisco are forming their perceptions of the world based on Donald Trump? Are you sure that the ideas being communicated by the city’s [school board](https://www.asian-dawn.com/2020/11/19/progressives-declare-war-on-asians-meritocracy-and-stem/) don’t matter here? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/6 "2021-02-12T00:08:44Z")
One year ago, it might have been Covid-related. By this point, though, the virus is so widespread that one is just as likely to catch it from a non-Asian as an Asian (in fact, perhaps _more_ likely, given that Asians have pretty good compliance with masks and whatnot). So it’s questionable as to whether that’s the motive. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/7 "2021-02-12T00:11:26Z")
In addition, Asians have long been perceived as the ‘safe’ minority to pick on. As in, there is this attitude that racism is a bad thing overall, but if one must pick on one race, better to target the Asians than others. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/8 "2021-02-12T01:34:25Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > One year ago, it might have been Covid-related. By this point, though, the virus is so widespread that one is just as likely to catch it from a non-Asian as an Asian None of this was every about the likelihood of actually catching Covid. It’s tribal animosity ratcheted up by people who benefited from riling people up. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anti-asian-hate-crimes-in-california/932576/9 "2021-02-12T01:37:27Z")
I think Asian Americans have been victims of hate crimes for a long time; it’s just not as talked about. But there’s been a definite spike in the last few years, due initially to Trump’s anti-immigration and anti-China platform, but then it has spiked out of control since the start of COVID.