Roots of Racism Examining the Conditions for Anti-Asian Hate During COVID-19
Hate towards people in the Asian American community spiked amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We tried to visualize this sudden rise in hate — and understand the forces that may have given rise to it.
A Growing Problem
Lives disrupted by hate
In recent years, anti-Asian hate incidents (AAHI) have impacted a shocking number of Asian Americans. Nearly 3 in 10 of the Asian American respondents to a recent survey indicated that they had been the victim of one in the past twelve months. AAHIs can take many forms — from discrimination, to verbal harassment and intimidation, to physical assaults. And they haven’t gone away.
Keep scrolling to uncover more about the uptick of AAHIs in the U.S.
Stabbing at Sam's Club store
3/14/2020 — Midland, TX
A man stabs a Burmese man and his two children, ages six and two, with a knife at a store. The perpetrator indicates that he stabbed the family because he thought the family was Chinese, and was infecting people with coronavirus.
Source: Daily Beast
A disgusting hate message
4/18/2021 — Santa Cruz, CA
An unknown individual leaves a cup full of urine on a Japanese-American woman’s car; the cup has anti-Chinese messages scribbled across it.
Source: Hopclear
Racist scrawl on car
3/10/2020 — Fresno, CA
An Asian man’s car is defaced with racist graffiti reading “F_CK ASIONS… and CORONYVIRUS!”
Source: NextShark
Physical and verbal assault in subway
3/30/2021 — New York, NY
A man calls an Asian woman an “Asian slut” along with other insults before spitting on her and throwing her phone onto the tracks after slapping it out of her hand. The Asian woman’s children are present during the incident.
Mapping increasing hate across the U.S.
In 2020 and 2021, there were 1,087 anti-Asian hate crimes reported to the FBI through its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. These hate crimes were happening in counties all over the country.
What are considered AAHIs?
AAHIs (Anti-Asian Hate Incidents) include discrimination, harassment, threats, physical assault, shunning, and exclusion based on race, ethnicity, and/or national origin.
Cumulative Total of Anti-Asian Hate Incidents by County, since January 2020
1 incident reported
15 incidents reported
This was no accident. Spurred on by rhetoric from elected officials, a startling number of Americans unfairly blamed Asian Americans for COVID-19. So as the pandemic set in, Asian Americans were being scapegoated, targeted, and harassed. Others were the victims of online abuse.
Some of these AAHIs were happening in counties with high rates of new COVID cases, like Los Angeles, CA. But in other places, like Indiana, PA, hate crimes were still happening even as the COVID case rate and death rate were well below the national average.
AAHIs happened in counties that favored Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. But they were happening in plenty of Democratic strongholds too.
Here’s the thing though: the FBI’s data only tells part of the story. That’s because the FBI only knows about hate crimes that are reported through local law enforcement agencies. And according to some estimates, that leads to significant undercounting in many counties.
Mentions of anti-Asian hate crimes in the news can help fill in the gaps. The media covers plenty of incidents that go unreported to the FBI, giving us a fuller picture of bias-motivated violence in America.
That’s why The Asian American Foundation systematically gathered data on AAHIs reported in various news media from 2020 to 2021.
Discrepancies in reporting hate
Comparing data between the media and FBI
County-by-county, we can see large differences between the two datasets. In San Francisco, California, for instance, we see 113 incidents in the news media data. In the FBI data, only 70 were reported.
Discrepancy between News Media and FBI reporting of AAHIs, by county
Highlight a county:
Sort by:
Kings, NY had 0 FBI reports and 56 news media reports
San Francisco, CA had 70 FBI reports and 113 news media reports
Queens, NY had 0 FBI reports and 39 news media reports
Alameda, CA had 33 FBI reports and 63 news media reports
Philadelphia, PA had 0 FBI reports and 22 news media reports
New York, NY had 162 FBI reports and 179 news media reports
District of Columbia had 4 FBI reports and 19 news media reports
Orange, CA had 16 FBI reports and 26 news media reports
Cook, IL had 10 FBI reports and 17 news media reports
Bronx, NY had 0 FBI reports and 7 news media reports
Multnomah, OR had 6 FBI reports and 13 news media reports
Bernalillo, NM had 2 FBI reports and 8 news media reports
Onondaga, NY had 2 FBI reports and 8 news media reports
Fulton, GA had 1 FBI reports and 6 news media reports
Salt Lake, UT had 3 FBI reports and 8 news media reports
Howard, MD had 0 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Montgomery, MD had 1 FBI reports and 5 news media reports
Nassau, NY had 0 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Dane, WI had 2 FBI reports and 6 news media reports
Milwaukee, WI had 0 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Fresno, CA had 1 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Santa Cruz, CA had 3 FBI reports and 6 news media reports
Jefferson, CO had 0 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
DuPage, IL had 0 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Baltimore, MD had 1 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Montgomery, OH had 0 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Oklahoma, OK had 1 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Harris, TX had 4 FBI reports and 7 news media reports
San Mateo, CA had 9 FBI reports and 11 news media reports
Palm Beach, FL had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Pinellas, FL had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Gwinnett, GA had 2 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Marion, IN had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Polk, IA had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Prince George's, MD had 1 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Norfolk, MA had 1 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
St. Louis, MO had 2 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Douglas, NE had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Tompkins, NY had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Westchester, NY had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Durham, NC had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Mecklenburg, NC had 2 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Lane, OR had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Dallas, TX had 4 FBI reports and 6 news media reports
Arlington, VA had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Brown, WI had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Portage, WI had 0 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Benton, AR had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Garland, AR had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Pope, AR had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Marin, CA had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Placer, CA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
San Joaquin, CA had 4 FBI reports and 5 news media reports
Santa Barbara, CA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Solano, CA had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Fairfield, CT had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
New Castle, DE had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Alachua, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Hernando, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Lake, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Okaloosa, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Orange, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Santa Rosa, FL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Volusia, FL had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Hawaii, HI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Kauai, HI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Kootenai, ID had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Sangamon, IL had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Allen, IN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Marshall, IN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Morgan, IN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Johnson, KS had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Russell, KS had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Jefferson, LA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Penobscot, ME had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Allegany, MD had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Muskegon, MI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Oakland, MI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Wayne, MI had 3 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Dakota, MN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Mower, MN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
St. Louis, MN had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Boone, MO had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Cole, MO had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Carson City, NV had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Atlantic, NJ had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Dona Ana, NM had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Santa Fe, NM had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Oneida, NY had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Richmond, NY had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Saratoga, NY had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Suffolk, NY had 2 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Cumberland, NC had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Wake, NC had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Cuyahoga, OH had 3 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Lucas, OH had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Columbia, OR had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Jackson, OR had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Bucks, PA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Cumberland, PA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Montgomery, PA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Northampton, PA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Horry, SC had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Ector, TX had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Travis, TX had 2 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Weber, UT had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Albemarle, VA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Campbell, VA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Prince William, VA had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Kitsap, WA had 1 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Monongalia, WV had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Marathon, WI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Sheboygan, WI had 0 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Sebastian, AR had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Monterey, CA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Yolo, CA had 4 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Boulder, CO had 2 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Broward, FL had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Cobb, GA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Will, IL had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Fayette, KY had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Jefferson, KY had 2 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Kenton, KY had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Lafayette, LA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Macomb, MI had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Washtenaw, MI had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Washington, MN had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Broome, NY had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Hamilton, OH had 3 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Tulsa, OK had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Centre, PA had 2 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Dauphin, PA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Shelby, TN had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
McLennan, TX had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Midland, TX had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Tom Green, TX had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Davis, UT had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Chesapeake, VA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Pierce, WA had 6 FBI reports and 6 news media reports
Thurston, WA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Yakima, WA had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Eau Claire, WI had 1 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Anchorage, AK had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Contra Costa, CA had 9 FBI reports and 8 news media reports
Riverside, CA had 5 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Sonoma, CA had 2 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Clear Creek, CO had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Douglas, CO had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
La Plata, CO had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Larimer, CO had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hartford, CT had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
New Haven, CT had 4 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Kent, DE had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Lee, FL had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Coweta, GA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
DeKalb, GA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Glynn, GA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Ada, ID had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Adams, IL had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Clark, IN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hendricks, IN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Monroe, IN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Tippecanoe, IN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Clinton, IA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Johnson, IA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Douglas, KS had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Allen, KY had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Calloway, KY had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Daviess, KY had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Grant, KY had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Orleans, LA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Cumberland, ME had 2 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Kennebec, ME had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Bristol, MA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hampshire, MA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Plymouth, MA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Berrien, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Genesee, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Leelanau, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Mason, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Montcalm, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Saginaw, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Wexford, MI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Anoka, MN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Blue Earth, MN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Carver, MN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Mille Lacs, MN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Attala, MS had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Oktibbeha, MS had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Lewis and Clark, MT had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Dodge, NE had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Clark, NV had 5 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Storey, NV had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Burlington, NJ had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hunterdon, NJ had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Sussex, NJ had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Warren, NJ had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Albany, NY had 2 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Otsego, NY had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Guilford, NC had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Mahoning, OH had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Stark, OH had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Warren, OH had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Canadian, OK had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Benton, OR had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Clackamas, OR had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Deschutes, OR had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Polk, OR had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Washington, OR had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Allegheny, PA had 2 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Lancaster, PA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Lehigh, PA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Bristol, RI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Kent, RI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Richland, SC had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Carter, TN had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
El Paso, TX had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Montgomery, TX had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Orange, TX had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Rutland, VT had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Windsor, VT had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Goochland, VA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Loudoun, VA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Petersburg, VA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Williamsburg, VA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Grant, WA had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Cabell, WV had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Preston, WV had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Grant, WI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Waukesha, WI had 1 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Sacramento, CA had 15 FBI reports and 13 news media reports
Adams, CO had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
El Paso, CO had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Harvey, KS had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Baltimore City, MD had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hampden, MA had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Greene, MO had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Lancaster, NE had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Rockingham, NH had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Camden, NJ had 3 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Passaic, NJ had 3 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Buncombe, NC had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Marion, OR had 3 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Charleston, SC had 2 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Bexar, TX had 3 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Fairfax, VA had 5 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Whatcom, WA had 3 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Arapahoe, CO had 4 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Denver, CO had 8 FBI reports and 5 news media reports
Pulaski, GA had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Essex, MA had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Worcester, MA had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Ingham, MI had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Scott, MN had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Jackson, MO had 3 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Hudson, NJ had 5 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Tarrant, TX had 6 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
San Bernardino, CA had 8 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
San Diego, CA had 17 FBI reports and 13 news media reports
San Luis Obispo, CA had 6 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Miami-Dade, FL had 4 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Essex, NJ had 5 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Mercer, NJ had 4 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Union, NJ had 5 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Franklin, OH had 5 FBI reports and 1 news media reports
Bradley, TN had 4 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Ramsey, MN had 7 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Maricopa, AZ had 10 FBI reports and 4 news media reports
Middlesex, MA had 13 FBI reports and 7 news media reports
Morris, NJ had 6 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Clark, WA had 6 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Snohomish, WA had 6 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Honolulu, HI had 9 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Hennepin, MN had 12 FBI reports and 5 news media reports
Washoe, NV had 10 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Gloucester, NJ had 8 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Somerset, NJ had 8 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Monmouth, NJ had 10 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
Los Angeles, CA had 90 FBI reports and 79 news media reports
Suffolk, MA had 26 FBI reports and 11 news media reports
Santa Clara, CA had 46 FBI reports and 28 news media reports
Middlesex, NJ had 20 FBI reports and 2 news media reports
Bergen, NJ had 23 FBI reports and 3 news media reports
Indiana, PA had 27 FBI reports and 0 news media reports
King, WA had 60 FBI reports and 30 news media reports
In other counties, the inverse was true.
King County, WA registered twice as many AAHIs in the FBI’s data as in the news media data.
Try examining a few counties to find more discrepancies.
Plotted over time, we see that the gap between the two datasets grew in early 2021. Mentions of AAHIs in the media show a more dramatic spike immediately after COVID-19 cases peak, while the FBI data lags behind.
What accounts for these differences? Partly, it could be that the media is picking up stories that may not necessarily be categorized as crimes. But the media could also be covering crimes that are not being reported to law enforcement.
A recent study shows that Asian American hate crime victims are less likely to report incidents to police than other racial groups. Discomfort and lack of trust toward law enforcement was one of the main barriers to reporting, per a 2023 study on safety of Asian Americans in NYC.
In any case, comparing these two datasets suggests that neither provides a full picture of anti-Asian hate incidence. In some areas, FBI counts don’t do justice to the extent of anti-Asian hate – and in others, media coverage may not reflect harsh realities experienced by Asian American communities.
Factors of Hate
Identifying Key Predictors
We wanted to better understand the possible catalysts for anti-Asian hate incidences. Observing an uptick in AAHIs is one thing; but if we can unearth the conditions that allow hate to thrive, then we can better devise strategies to combat it. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we assembled a team of researchers from The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and universities across the country to investigate.
Politics
COVID-19
Safety
Demographics
Economy
Healthcare Access
Health Behaviors
So what characteristics about a county are most associated with AAHIs? Is it a county’s political affiliation? Is it demographic makeup? Our research team built a few statistical models to find out.
Here’s a look at all of the factors that we considered in our analysis. Taken together, they give a good sense of a county’s demographic, political, social, and economic situation.
Based on our research, there were some factors that weren’t very helpful in understanding AAHIs across either dataset. Take the college education rate, for instance. Whether a county had a higher or lower percentage of adults with some post-secondary education, it didn’t seem to make a difference in the number of AAHIs observed there.
Some factors showed a strong correlation with counts of AAHIs in the news media data. As the value of these factors increased, we saw more instances of AAHIs. Meanwhile, an increase in these factors corresponded to a decline in AAHIs.
Other factors were closely associated with the counts of AAHIs in the FBI’s data.
But only a handful of factors were most statistically significant in both models. That is, these factors had such a strong relationship with AAHIs, it’s unlikely that’s purely by chance. Most of the political, demographic, and safety-related factors weren’t among them.
In the end, we find that AAHIs are closely related to certain local economic conditions and unequal health outcomes. Counties with more inequality tended to experience more hate crimes according to our data. This makes sense — previous research has found that income inequality is a powerful predictor of neighborhood turmoil and violent crime in general. And our research suggests that this relationship holds true for AAHIs, too.
Explore the model
Let’s see how some of the factors with the strongest association play a role in predicting Anti-Asian hate crimes.
Our statistical models aren’t perfect. They may not always capture the story of any individual county. But they are helpful in explaining national trends and the key factors most closely associated with AAHIs.
Building a stronger community
What can we do to make sure waves of hate like the one we saw in 2020 and 2021 never happen again?
Supporting nonprofits that strengthen local AAPI communities is a great first step. In a follow-up analysis, our research team found that areas with more AAHIs tended to see higher rates of depression and anxiety. But they also found that this trend was diminished in certain areas with better-funded AAPI nonprofits.
While more research is needed to understand these trends, the good news is that there are already hundreds of AAPI-serving nonprofits around the country who work against hate and toward healthier communities. To find the right organization to support, please visit The Asian American Foundation’s AAPI Nonprofit Database. Whether you can donate $5 or $5,000, we invite you to join the fight for healthier, more resilient communities for Asian Americans everywhere.
Nationwide Organizations Fighting Against Anti-Asian Hate
233 Organizations Sourced from the AAPI Nonprofit Database
Explore the organizations here.
AAPI Nonprofit Database Matching Service
Get matched to AAPI nonprofits via TAAF’s vast database of AAPI-focused organizations. Find community, resources, and support.
Areas for Future Research
Through our research, we learned a lot about anti-Asian hate incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. But we need more research to better understand the trends our team uncovered. Here are a few questions for future research.
What causes AAHIs?
Our study gives us more information about the kinds of communities that are more at risk for AAHIs, but it can’t tell us what causes them.
How can we make sure fewer AAHIs go uncounted?
Our research revealed large discrepancies between FBI data and news media data, but both datasets are incomplete snapshots of what Asian Americans experience on a daily basis.
We invite future researchers and funders to help us build on these and other questions that are critical to the safety and health of our communities.
Our Team
This project was made possible by the research, design, and development efforts of the following:
-
Hee Yun Lee, Ph.D.
Professor and Endowed Academic Chair in Social Work (Health)
-
Su Hyun Shin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Family and Consumer Studies and Director of Financial Planning
-
Young Ji Yoon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Department of Social Work
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The Asian American Foundation (TAAF)
-
The DataFace
Design and Web Development
Methodology
The study analyzed anti-Asian hate incidents (AAHIs) using data from January 2020 and December 2021 from two key repositories: (1) media data on AAHIs compiled by The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) through web scraping techniques, and (2) law enforcement data documented by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program (UCR). During this period, the datasets showed 1,288 and 1,087 reported AAHIs, respectively. Additional county-level variables were sourced from Johns Hopkins, HealthData.gov, MIT Election Data + Science Lab, and County Health Rankings & Roadmaps.
TAAF monitored AAHIs by scanning Google News Alerts and Feedly on a weekly or biweekly basis using keywords related to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). They manually reviewed headlines to identify incidents motivated by racial or ethnic bias. The FBI’s hate crime data offers detailed information about reported incidents, detailing bias types, motivations, criminal acts, and the demographics involved. A responding officer initially assesses if an incident is bias-motivated, and upon confirmation, it is reviewed further before being reported to the FBI’s UCR program. As noted, neither dataset provides a complete picture of the number of AAHIs that occurred during this period, but taken together they offer meaningful insights into the times and places where such incidents occurred.
The study analyzed the number of AAHIs reported in media and law enforcement data on a monthly basis (dependent variable). It considered a broad range of county-level independent variables, including factors related to COVID-19, political affiliation, health, access to healthcare, social and economic conditions, and demographics. Choropleth maps were used to visualize the data, displaying AAHIs per capita by state/county for each year. County-random effects models were employed to identify factors associated with AAHI reports in both media and law enforcement, analyzing data from 1,962 counties. Data cleaning and analysis were conducted using Stata 15, with results validated at a 95% confidence level.
Data Sources
2020-2021 County Health Rankings from County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
Crime Data from Federal Bureau of Investigation
COVID-19 Death Counts from HealthData.gov
COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States from HealthData.gov
COVID-19 Vaccination Rate from John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center
Decoding Hate from The Asian American Foundation
Photo Credits
Press Inquiries
For media inquiries, please email Press@TAAF.org.