Despite Joe Biden’s actions on hate crimes, Asians in the US see little to celebrate

The past year has made it abundantly clear how difficult it is for Asians like me to feel they belong in the US, no matter how long they have lived here
Suggesting anti-Asian violence is connected to the pandemic ignores the reality that such biases and many violent incidents predate Covid-19

Chi Wang

Published: 1:30am, 5 Jun 2021

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Every May since 1992, the United States has observed Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. When I first arrived in the US in 1949, there was no such commemoration for Asian-Americans, most of whom did not even have full voting and citizenship rights.

I was not aware of the prejudices that tainted the Asian experience in America, and for a while I remained oblivious.

My father, one of Chiang Kai-shek’s most trusted generals, led the first Republic of China military delegation to the US from 1939 to 1941. My brothers accompanied him and attended colleges in California, and one served in the US Army during World War II.

The stories my brothers and father told of their time in the US fuelled my desire to study there myself, and I never questioned whether America would be a welcoming place for Asians.

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The memory of Sino-American cooperation during World War II was still fresh when I began my studies. Many veterans of the war who I encountered went out of their way to make me feel welcome in my new home.

It was not until the Cold War darkened US-China relations that I first experienced discrimination. A professor at the University of Maryland refused to admit me to his class because he had lost a family member in the Korean war, where Chinese and Americans fought against each other.

It did not matter to this professor that I had been drafted by the US Army – though the war ended before I could serve – or that my brother fought for the US in World War II. All he saw was my Chinese face and assumed I was the enemy.

As I became more acquainted with the history of Asians in America, I came to realise the sense of welcoming I felt was the exception, not the norm.

From the massacre of Chinese workers in California in 1871 and miners in Wyoming in 1885 to the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II and the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982, American history is full of discrimination and violence against Asians. The rise in such incidents since the pandemic began has brought more attention to this problem.

Two weeks ago, US President Joe Biden signed a bill addressing hate crimes against the Asian-American community. He also introduced a new executive order that sought to advance “equity, justice and opportunity” for Asian-Americans and coordinate a comprehensive response to the hate crimes.

Demonstrators march to CNN Centre following a rally against anti-Asian violence in Atlanta on March 20. Photo: Bloomberg

Despite these actions, I see little for Asians in the US to celebrate. Neither the hate crime bill nor the president’s executive order attempt meaningful steps to address the causes of these attacks or prevent new attacks, and it remains all too easy for people outside the Asian community to ignore these attacks.

A recent study by Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH) showed 37 per cent of white Americans and 46 per cent of Republicans were unaware of the increase in attacks on Asians. That large parts of American society remain ignorant about what is happening demonstrates just how invisible Asians are in American society.

The name of the bill Biden signed – the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act – suggests its scope is only to address hate crimes associated with the coronavirus or that such attacks are connected directly to the pandemic.

This ignores the reality that anti-Asian biases and many of the most egregious incidents of violence targeting the community predate Covid-19. It also suggests that when the pandemic is over, these hate crimes will stop.

One hate crime under investigation surrounds the murder of Maggie Long, who was allegedly set on fire and buried alive in Colorado. This murder happened four years ago, well before the pandemic.

The shooting deaths of six Asian women at Atlanta spas in March are also being investigated as hate crimes , but the shooter’s motivation does not appear to be tied directly to the pandemic and appears rooted in his fetishisation of Asian women.

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Many corporations, agencies and media organisations took steps in May to “celebrate” Asian-American heritage by highlighting Asian voices and perspectives and donating to Asian-focused charities and foundations.

Yet Asians remain under-represented in these institutions as they do in the upper echelons of American society, including government, the media, Hollywood and boardrooms.

What Asians really need from these institutions is better representation and inclusion, not commemorative hashtags. Their perspectives need to be heard every day, not merely during May.

The LAAUNCH study also asked respondents to name a “prominent” Asian-American. The most common response, coming from 42 per cent of respondents, was “don’t know”. Only 2 per cent named Vice-President Kamala Harris, which demonstrates just how little her Asian background has resonated across the country.

The past year has made it abundantly clear how difficult it is for Asians like me to feel they belong in the US, no matter how long they have lived here.

The LAAUNCH study found 20 per cent of respondents agreed at least in part that Asian-Americans as a group are “more loyal to their countries of origin than to the United States”, an alarming statistic that shows the attitudes that led to Japanese internment are far from dormant.

I spent more than four decades working for the US government at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute and the Library of Congress, where I helped inform policymakers and their staff about China.

Yet, the past year has made me again confront the ugly reality that despite my decades of service to this country, many of my fellow Americans do not see Asian faces like mine as belonging here.

Chi Wang, a former head of the Chinese section of the US Library of Congress, is president of the US-China Policy Foundation