Addressing the Root Cause of COVID-19 Hate Crimes Against the AAPI Community: Shifting from Reactive Policies to Preventative Solutions

Authors

Alexa A. Panganiban

Abstract

While the COVID-19 Pandemic affected health, social interaction, and politics on a global scale, Asian Americans in the United States faced the added hardship of racism and xenophobia. Unfortunately, anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S. is not unprecedented and has historical roots dating back to at least the nineteenth century. However, with right-wing leaders using condescending labels like “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu” to describe the deadly infection, Asian hate has escalated to astronomical levels. Within one year of the onset of the Pandemic, more than 9,000 reports of Asian hate were filed, and this exponential surge led to the adoption of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. This act, while promising in theory, fails to address the root cause of Asian hate crimes: racism. Rather, it employs reactive measures that intend to punish aggressors after a racially motivated crime has already occurred. This Note explores how hate crime legislation in the U.S. traditionally functions and contrasts the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act to existing hate crime laws. It highlights the shortcomings of the vague, unactionable statutory language, the failure to address cultural considerations, and the necessity of compulsory reporting. This Note offers a two-fold solution that considers both systemic and legal principles to combat racism as the source of hate crimes and to clarify existing hate crime laws to make reporting them and prosecuting perpetrators more workable.

Recommended Citation

Alexa A. Panganiban, Addressing the Root Cause of COVID-19 Hate Crimes Against the AAPI Community: Shifting from Reactive Policies to Preventative Solutions, 32 J. L. & Pol'y 160 (2024).
Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/jlp/vol32/iss2/5