WASHINGTON — A national coalition addressing anti-Asian racism released a new report Thursday on the thousands of hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders over the past year across the country.
The report found 37.8% of reported incidents over the 12-month span took place in public streets or parks and 32.2% of reported incidents happened in businesses.
From mid-March 2020 to the end of March 2021, there were 6,603 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for such crimes, and its partner advocacy groups.
Of the 6,603 hate incidents documented in Stop AAPI Hate's report, 4,193 incidents occurred in 2020 and 2,410 hate incidents occurred in 2021.
The organization noted there was a significant increase in the number of case reports filed in March 2021, however, that spike includes reports on incidents that occurred in 2020.
Hate and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have persisted at alarming rates.
During the first few months of 2021, there were a number of incidents caught on camera of violence against elderly Asian people. Those incidents, along with the fatal shootings of eight people - six of whom were Asian women - at three spas in the Atlanta area, prompted rallies in several cities around the country in March to confront anti-Asian bias.
Stop AAPI Hate's national report found Chinese individuals reported 43.7% of hate incidents, more than other race or ethnic groups. They were followed by Koreans (16.6%), Filipinx (8.8%) and Vietnamese (8.3%).
When it comes to reports by state, California had the highest number of hate incident reports by far, accounting for 40% of the total. It was followed by New York (15.1%), Washington (4.8%), Texas (3.3%) and Illinois (3.2%).
The Asian American Foundation, a newly formed organization launched to improve AAPI advocacy, announced a TV special for later this month. R&B singer Jhené Aiko, rapper Saweetie and English icon Sting will be among the artists performing at “See Us Unite for Change — The Asian American Foundation in service of the AAPI Community.” It will air on May 21 on several TV channels, including MTV, BET, VH1, Comedy Central as well as Facebook Watch.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.