Aigerim Collins

March 13, 2023

In the wake of the Monetary Park shooting in California during a Lunar New Year celebration, the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is, again, grieving.[i] Following continued xenophobia, physical assaults against Asian immigrants, and the Atlanta spa shooting, the rise of violent crimes towards the community has left people hurting, outraged, and demanding answers. The role of advocacy groups, like Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate, is crucial in conversations regarding policy changes to combat violent hate crimes and harassment. Currently, Stop AAPI Hate and other organizations have focused on advocating for community-driven safety solutions, educational equity, and civil rights expansions to address Anti-AAPI hate. Politicians must consider the policy recommendations of advocacy groups and incorporate these recommendations into legislation to adequately combat hate crimes.

While Asian American and Pacific Islander people have historically been the victims of racism and racist ideologies, there has also been an idea in America that Asian Americans are the model minority.  The model minority myth is based on the stereotype that Asian American children are geniuses and that their mothers force them to work harder.[ii]  The stereotype that all Asian American mothers use shame as a motivator for children to academically achieve has been termed “Tiger Mom.” The term was coined by Amy Chua in her novel that compared Western and Chinese parenting, The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.[iii] However, the term has grown following the novel, most often to generally describe Asian mothers. The “Tiger Mother” stereotype ignores the diversity of parenting styles and stereotypes Asian mothers as unemotional towards their children. The model minority myth stereotypes Asian Americans as a group with innate talent who have risen in social mobility due to immigrant values of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, which is harmful for several reasons.[iv] First, the model minority myth erases the racism that Asian Americans face by citing Asian Americans success. Yet, this myth ignores the historical racism Asian Americans have faced through the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment camps.[v] Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic proved that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders still experience racism, as it painted the AAPI community as foreigners who are different from Americans and American culture. Because the model minority myth is so prevalent in society, it harms the AAPI community by perpetuating stereotypes and ignoring the racism this community has faced, encouraging politicians to ignore the needs of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.

The history of perpetuating Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as foreigners enhanced the xenophobia of Asian Americans following the Covid-19 epidemic. The AAPI community was used as a scapegoat for the pandemic because the virus started in China. Politicians reinforced the scapegoating of Asian Americans through xenophobic rhetoric in which the Covid-19 virus was called the Chinese Virus, Wuhan Virus, and Kung Flu Virus. The widespread xenophobia against Asian Americans indicates that the social control theory is playing a role in how racism manifests. The extent to which xenophobia against Asian Americans has been normalized and perpetuated through social media encourages active crime against the community. Violent hate crimes like the Atlanta spa shooting, in which six out of the eight victims of the shooting were Asian women, is just one example of physical crime against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.  The attention of xenophobia, harassment, and violent hate crimes have brought public attention to Stop AAPI Hate, both as a group and for its role in combatting hate crimes.

Stop AAPI Hate was founded in January 2020 by the AAPI Equity Alliance, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University. This group has, among other accomplishments, gathered and analyzed data on hate crimes to inform their recommendations. In their latest report, “Two Years and Thousands of Voices: What Community Generated Data Tells Us About Anti-AAPI Hate,” the organization found that from March 2020 to March 2022, there were 11,467 reported incidents of Anti-AAPI hate.[vi] Furthermore, 17% of those hate incidents involved physical violence.[vii] The physical violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is predated by a history of psychological and emotional abuse of the community, exemplified by the perpetuation of the group as foreigners. The emotional, psychological, and physical abuse of Asian Americans, coupled with the statistics showing the prevalence of hate crimes, indicates a need for intervention through policy measures to combat hate crimes.

Current conversations about the mass shooting in Monterey Park seek to combat violence through gun control laws. Although the President has called for a national ban on assault rifles, Republicans have opposed it, and legislation banning assault rifles likely will not pass in the Senate. Other gun reform policies in the discussion include raising the age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21 and expanding background checks.[viii] While gun control reform would aim to combat gun violence and subsequent violent crimes, it is not enough to stop the hate crimes of which the AAPI community has been the target. Violent hate crimes are the product of gun violence and racism, together; therefore, it is necessary to combat violent hate crimes with gun reform and systematic reform.

Solutions outlined by Stop AAPI Hate take a community-driven safety approach. This includes supporting victims and survivors of hate crimes through mental health resources that have a multicultural and multilingual approach. The organization has also advocated for funding free mental and physical health resources for victims of hate.[ix]  While these recommendations are primarily reactionary, it is vital to understand how instances of hate crimes can impact the physical and mental well-being of a community. To support the physical needs of a community, there should be access to free medical care that is equitable to the community and free of language barriers. Additionally, support for mental health should include resources like a community center with free drop-in counseling as well as group therapy to support community healing. One example of this policy in action is the passage of the API Equity Budget by the California Legislature. The budget includes an investment of 156.5 million dollars to fund resources. The funding supports community-based organizations and resources, like media outreach programs to serve non-English speaking residents and funding to increase non-English speakers in community hearings and townhall meetings. These policies would effectively break down language barriers to include the perspectives of minority community members. Additionally, the budget would fund a statewide reporting hotline of anti-Asian hate. This hotline would ensure Asian Americans would have the space to report instances of hate crimes. Reporting of anti-Asian hate would allow for an increased collection of data that could help inform policy measures.  The hotline would also be a way to combat the model minority myth by bringing awareness to the racism the community still faces. 

While this policy provides an important step in healing and trauma care for the AAPI community, there need to be policy recommendations that are preventive, as well. Preventative policy could include, for example, understanding the role of social media in committing hate crimes. One study by the National Institute of Justice studied social media use and engagement in violent and nonviolent hate crime.[x] The study analyzed two databases in relation to social media use: the Extremist Crime Database, which includes more extreme forms of violence, and Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States, which focuses on hate crimes based on “gender identity, race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, or sexual preference.”[xi] The study found that Facebook was the most common form of social media used by those within the databases.[xii] Additionally, the study’s findings emphasized the role of social control theory. Social control theory is understood as the extent to which people engage in crime based on the strength of their bonds to society. In this way, the study found preliminary evidence linking the social control theory and how peer relations can increase radicalization and crime.[xiii] This emphasizes the role social media plays in radicalization and committing hate crimes. Based on this study, policies that focus on the role of social media and hate crimes, like reporting of posts that could indicate a hate crime or more research into studying the effect of social media and hate related crimes, could be one preventive measure.

Another preventative measure that Stop AAPI has advocated is teaching AAPI history in the K-12 curriculum.[xiv] This approach targets the role systematic racism plays in institutions like the education system. The organization hopes this will be a preventative measure in combatting systematic racism and implicit biases, thus preventing instances of racially motivated hate crimes. One report by Jacques De Lors in 1996 studied the role of education in socialization by providing four purposes of education.[xv] De Lors proposed learning to be and learning to live together as two purposes of education.[xvi] Learning to be emphasized the role of education in developing personality and judgment. Learning to live together emphasized the development of understanding other people. These two purposes of education highlight the role the education process plays in the socialization of individuals; thus, it is important to teach equitable history to develop an understanding of others lived experiences. Teaching of equitable history would focus on the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including contributions of community members as well the history of racism against the AAPI community, to combat the model minority myth and increase awareness of the harm of racist polices and ideologies. Illinois and New Jersey have both signed laws requiring the teaching of AAPI history in schools. Illinois passed its law in April 2021, the first state to do so. The law requires every public elementary, middle, and high school to learn about Asian American contributions.[xvii] In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy mandated by law that the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders be included in the K-12 Social Studies curriculum. The law also created the Commission for Asian American Heritage within the Department of Education in New Jersey.[xviii]

 In Pennsylvania, The Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance has advocated for educational justice in the form of fair funding for public schools.[xix] The group proposes that equitable funding of public schools would allow for funding of diverse classes, like ethnic studies classes, to promote cultural awareness and increase safety of students to express their heritage. Funding would also improve English as a Second Language programs to ensure equitable education without language barriers. While these approaches are long-term, they are necessary steps to dismantling systematic racism in the educations system.

The policies of advocacy groups, like curriculum requiring teaching AAPI history and outreach programs, would seek to combat the prerequisites to hate crimes, like systematic racism and implicit biases, and they are recommendations politicians must consider and work towards creating.  Furthermore, community-based programs providing funding for mental and physical support to the victims of hate crimes should also be considered nationally. Additional polices considering the role of social media in perpetuating hate crimes must be considered. To combat violent hate crimes, the policy recommendations provided by Asian American and Pacific Islander advocacy groups and gun control laws need to be a part of the rhetoric in current discussions surrounding legislation reform.

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[i] Tanyos, Faris. 2023. Investigators still have no motive in Monterey Park shooting, sheriff says. January 26. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/investigators-no-motive-monterey-park-shooting-sheriff-says/.

[ii] Blackburn, Sarah-Soonling. “What Is the Model Minority Myth?” Learning for Justice, March 21, 2019. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/what-is-the-model-minority-myth.

[iii] Bowen, Ronda. 2020. “What Exactly Is A Tiger Mom?” Moms. November 20, 2020. https://www.moms.com/what-tiger-mom-parenting-explained/.

[iv](Blackburn, Sarah-Soonling 2019)

[v] (Blackburn, Sarah-Soonling 2019)

[vi] Stop AAPI Hate. “National Report (Through December 31, 2021),” March 4, 2022. https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-december-31-2021/.

[vii] Stop AAPI Hate. “National Report (Through December 31, 2021),” March 4, 2022. https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-december-31-2021/.

[viii] “Analysis-Why Biden Pushes an Assault Weapons Ban despite the Political Odds.” Accessed February 12, 2023. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/analysis-why-biden-pushes-an-assault-weapons-ban-despite-the-political-odds/ar-AA16ObkM.

[ix]Jeung, Russell, Aggie Yellow Horse, Tara Popovic, and Richard Lim. “Stop AAPI Hate National Report.” Ethnic Studies Review 44, no. 2 (July 1, 2021): 19–26. https://doi.org/10.1525/esr.2021.44.2.19.

[x]National Institute of Justice. “Domestic Extremists and Social Media: Study Finds Similarities, Differences in Web Habits of Those Engaged in Hate Crimes Vs. Violent Extremism.” Accessed February 12, 2023. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/domestic-extremists-and-social-media-study-finds-similarities-differences-web.

[xi] (National Institute of Justice)

[xii] (National Institute of Justice)

[xiii] (National Institute of Justice)

[xiv] Stop AAPI Hate. “National Report (Through December 31, 2021),” March 4, 2022. https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-december-31-2021/.

[xv]Winthrop, Rebecca. “Learning to Live Together: How Education Can Help Fight Systemic Racism.” Brookings (blog), June 5, 2020. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2020/06/05/learning-to-live-together-how-education-can-help-fight-systemic-racism/.

[xvi] (Winthrop Rebecca 2020)

[xvii] “Pritzker Signs Law Making Illinois First State to Require Asian American History Be Taught in Schools.” NBC Chicago (blog), July 9, 2021. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/pritzker-signs-law-making-illinois-first-state-to-require-asian-american-history-be-taught-in-schools/2550889/.

[xviii] “Office of the Governor | Governor Murphy Signs Legislation Ensuring AAPI-Inclusive Curriculum Is Taught in New Jersey Schools.” Accessed February 12, 2023. https://nj.gov/governor/news/news/562022/20220118c.shtml.

[xix] “Our Issues.” n.d. Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://apipennsylvania.org/about/issues/.