“Perpetual Foreigner:” 20 Years after 9/11, xenophobic rhetoric continues to harm Asian Americans
Hate Crimes against Asian Americans rose 833% in NYC during 2020 and led to lasting anxieties for the most vulnerable community members.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans have skyrocketed in New York City, jumping 833% according to preliminary 2020 statistics from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Community leaders blame racist rhetoric in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing tensions between the United States and China. The rising hate crimes trend in the wake of national tragedy is not new, and in the aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack killing over 3,000, distrust and abounding political rhetoric on tackling the “war on terror” led to a higher number of hate crimes targeting Muslims and South Asians and those who were perceived to be a part of those communities.
The rise in hate crimes grounded in xenophobic bias is not a new phenomenon. Instead, it highlights the cyclical nature of othered communities through the oversimplification and political rhetoric prompted by a national tragedy.
Elizabeth Ouyang, civil rights attorney and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, says that broader discrimination has pinned Asian American communities as the “perpetual foreigner.” In the wake of 9/11, that behavior was taken to the extreme when politicians, their supporters, and members of the media denounced members of Muslim communities as “terrorists” and “the enemy” in fear of such an unprecedented attack. The post-9/11 period was intense, which prompted “extreme violence,” but when Ouyang encounters students who wonder if the wave of anti-Asian hate is a novel phenomenon, she responds, “I have seen it before, far worse.”
According to Professor Ouyang, continued U.S. Foreign policy with North Korea and escalating tensions with China contribute to “anti-Chinese bashing” of persons of Chinese descent or perceived to be of Chinese descent. In a recent Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing that looks at “Evaluating the Landscape 20 Years After 9/11”, Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray labeled Chinese counterintelligence as one of the “largest threats” that continue to impact U.S. national security and have been the subject of new counterintelligence investigations opened up on an ongoing basis.
During Wray’s testimony, he said that “Of course, in addition to terrorism threats, we also face a wide array of cyber threats from nation state and criminal actors alike; persistent counterintelligence threats from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Iran, and North Korea.” For the FBI, China has presented itself as a threat for several decades, which has led to greater efforts of surveillance on behalf of the government on Asian immigrants and Asian Americans. This FBI surveillance and perception of China as a threat filters into society and perpetuates stereotypes that can have violent consequences.
In the June 2021 Stop AAPI Hate National Report, 48.1% of hate incidents reported to their organization included “at least one hateful statement regarding anti-China and/or anti-immigrant rhetoric.” The report also cites the “scapegoating of China” in response to the effects of the pandemic, racial slurs, and “anti-immigrant nativism” as common themes in the language used to target Asian Americans.
Historically, Japanese Internment Camps during World War Two and special registration programs post-9/11 serve as examples of violent forms of U.S. policy, amongst many others that continue to alienate Asian Americans. The Museum of Chinese in America, located in New York City’s Chinatown, features the history of Chinese Americans throughout the history of the U.S. and the challenges, barriers, and systemic oppression they have faced as well as the contributions to momentous periods. Currently, the museum offers free admission for the duration of the exhibit Responses: Asian American Voices Resisting the Tides of Racism. The new exhibit on display since July 2021 includes “a monumental Timeline of Anti-Asian Racism in America” from the early U.S. imperial endeavors in Asia to the xenophobia endured by the community post 9/11 and during the COVID-19 pandemic where the Asian American community.
NYU student and museum visitor Ty Arpornsuksant, the most striking part of the exhibit was the language shift in policy from “foreign national” to “alien,” which he believes demonstrates a more “divisive” nature in politics that contributes to further discrimination. Coming from Atlanta, Arponsuksant said that he has also experienced anti-Asian bias since moving to New York a few years ago. “Coming from a patriotic place, I haven’t been feeling that as much lately,” as he recounted an experience of anti-Asian discrimination on the bus in the Upper East Side. Another subway-goer harassed him and another friend of Asian descent with gibes about Wuhan, China, and the coronavirus, prompting Arpornsukant and his friend to change subway cars.
Crystal Lu appreciated that the exhibit offers “a space to reflect” on the longstanding history of anti-Asian bias. Additionally, as someone who works in the medical field, Lu has seen firsthand Asian New Yorkers attacked based on bias and are afraid to report the incident for fear that they would not be believed. For Lu, the exhibit highlighted how “if we don’t speak up no one will hear us.”
According to Professor Ouyang, the threat of violent discrimination in broad daylight has negatively impacted the mental health of the local Asian American community, affecting their performance at work, which has led to increased hesitancy in social interaction and further isolation. In a report from the Asian American Federation on small businesses in New York impacted by the Covid -19 crisis, 61% of respondents noted a significant worry is “anti-Asian Bias or hate crime happening to them, their business establishment, or their staff.”
The federal government has taken steps to address the rise in hate crimes and anti-Asian bias incidents during the pandemic. In May 2021, Congress passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act after finding the impact on individuals and businesses, establishing a new position in the Department of Justice to “facilitate the expedited review of hate crimes.” The law urges local law enforcement agencies to improve the online options in reporting hate crimes and calls upon the community organizations and the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to increase “raising awareness of hate crimes” related to the pandemic.
The solutions created by public officials and law enforcement in consultation with members of the community are an attempt to combat hate incident trends researchers have seen nationwide. In New York City, the NYPD response has been to create a task force to serve as a liaison between the Asian American community and provide services in multiple languages to aid in navigating criminal justice systems and ease the reporting process. Since the task force’s creation, the NYPD has continued to show increased anti-Asian bias incidents in their monthly crime statistic reports compared to other racial groups.
The Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Asian Law Caucus, however, recommends “community-centered solutions to addressing hate violence” rather than increased policing. Monette Moradi, a former policy 2021 intern with the Asian American Federation, shared that the seminars they regularly host have had a strong impact on the community in accessing resources that may otherwise be inaccessible either due to language or technological barriers. Moradi said that “policing doesn’t necessarily have to be the answer,” and that “teaching people to be allies” and “bystander training” are viable community solutions.
As the nation remembers the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it also serves as another reminder of the longstanding history around fear stoked by unprecedented catastrophes. This fear, in turn, has influenced bias and discrimination towards the Asian American community, and 20 years later, the pandemic and ensuing anti-Asian bias attacks continue to reflect that trend.
