(This story was updated to add new information.)
A new survey released Wednesday shows a staggering 49% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were victims of a hate act in the U.S. last year, much of it happening under the radar amid a drop in national scrutiny and lack of reporting to law enforcement.
A wave of high-profile hate crimes at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic drew national ire over anti-Asian attacks. But the new survey, shared exclusively with USA TODAY, shows that the Asian American community faces pervasive levels of hate under the radar, from parking lots and public transit to workplaces and colleges.
The report by Stop AAPI Hate and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago − set to be released Wednesday afternoon at a news briefing in Washington with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus − surveyed 1,005 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults across the nation. The report found that nearly half of respondents faced discrimination in 2023, but they also fought against it at unprecedented levels.
Rep. Judy Chu, who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told USA TODAY the report helps fill a data “vacuum” and will inform lawmakers and the public on trends of anti-Asian racism in the future. She noted a spike in hate incidents against Asians when COVID-19 first spread and said former President Donald Trump “put a target on our backs” through inflammatory rhetoric.
But even after the wave of early pandemic-era attacks subsided, Chu said, the community faces alarming levels of discrimination.
“Since then, the crimes and hate incidents have not been as visible, but they’re still there,” Chu said. “They are still happening, and that’s why it is important for Stop AAPI Hate to put this report out.”
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