Anti-Asian Xenophobia, Hate Crime Victimization, and Fear of Victimization During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

While the World Health Organization advised against referring to COVID-19 using racial overtones, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, many disparagingly called it the “Wuhan virus,” the “Chinese virus,” and other terms. In this context, the FBI warned police agencies about an expected increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the early months of the pandemic. But, while some researchers and media outlets discussed these potential increases at length, very few studies have been able to directly assess the nature of anti-Asian hate and bias victimization during the pandemic. Following this, the current study directly examines variation in anti-Asian bias and victimization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this research presents results from two studies using a survey of 3,163 non-Asian and 575 Asian American and Pacific Islander respondents, respectively. The first study examines the prevalence of anti-Asian xenophobia among the non-Asian sample and assesses differences in these prejudicial attitudes across respondent characteristics, while the second study examines variation in experiences with bias during the pandemic among the Asian sample. The results illustrate the ubiquity of anti-Asian sentiment, suggesting that those who indicate greater fear of the pandemic report more prejudicial attitudes, as well as important racial differences in these patterns. The results also demonstrate the extent to which the pandemic has impacted individual experiences with anti-Asian bias victimization, such that more than one-third of Asian respondents report bias victimization during the pandemic, and more than half of Asian respondents report that they know someone who has been victimized. These patterns have important implications for addressing COVID-19-related hate crime moving forward.

Fear, Political Legitimization, and Racism: Examining Anti-Asian Xenophobia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The early impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on anti-Asian hate and bias are well-documented ( Gover et al, 2020 ; Lantz & Wenger, 2022 ; Tessler et al, 2020 ; Wong, 2020 ). 1 According to the Stop AAPI Hate organization, which tracks such incidents, more than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander people were reported between March 2020 and September 2021 ( Yellow Horse et al, 2021 ).…”

“…This intention is, unfortunately, well-justified: there is a long history linking pandemics to prejudice and xenophobia, and the Asian population has been a particularly frequent target of disease-related prejudice and discrimination (Clissold et al, 2020; Muzzatti, 2005 ). There is also evidence that these negative stereotypes and racist tropes linking Asian people and disease have been particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic (see Lantz & Wenger, 2022 ), a pattern that is not particularly surprising, given the magnitude, duration, and societal impact of the disease.…”

“…Former U.S. President Donald Trump, in particular, has consistently referred to the disease as the “China virus” or “Wuhan virus,” while also implicitly or explicitly placing blame for the disease on Chinese people, and Asian people more generally ( Clissold et al, 2020 ; Noel, 2020 ; Ren & Feagin, 2021 ; Rubin & Wilson, 2021 ). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) even noted the dangerous nature of these sentiments—albeit implicitly—by quickly issuing a warning to law enforcement agencies around the country about an anticipated increase in anti-Asian hate crimes ( Lantz & Wenger, 2022 ).…”

The Role of Hate Crime Victimization, Fear of Victimization, and Vicarious Victimization in COVID-19-Related Depression

“…Others have suggested that these effects are likely to reverberate to other racial and ethnic groups as well, as pandemic-related fears serve to exacerbate in-group/out-group divisions and facilitate prejudices (e.g., Van Bavel et al, 2020). Indeed, early research has indicated that reported hate crimes, which are criminal offenses motivated, in whole or in part, by bias or prejudice against an individual because of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other group characteristic, have been occurring at an alarmingly high level during the COVID-19 pandemic (Gover et al, 2020; Lantz & Wenger, 2020; Tessler et al, 2020). Even those who do not experience hate crime victimization frequently report that they know someone who has been victimized or report changing their own behavior to avoid victimization (Lantz & Wenger, 2020).…”

Editorial: Community Engagement Is Key to Promoting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Health

“… 1 , 2 Among them, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NH/PI) communities not only bear a disproportional morbidity and mortality burden, 3–5 but also are the target of anti-Asian racism and hate crimes. 6–9 Studies have identified a strong effect of job loss associated with the pandemic on psychological distress among Asian Americans and African Americans, 10 higher ratios of COVID-19 death rates among non-Hispanic Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders relative to non-Hispanic Whites, 1 and lower rates of telehealth utilization during the pandemic among East and Southeast Asians. 11 …”