Study links anti-Asian hatred to economic disparities

A new study found that anti-Asian hate incidents (AAHIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic correlated to the degree of local economic and health disparities, and the FBI data on such incidents were different from that reported by the news media.

The study, called "Roots of Racism: Examining the Conditions for Anti-Asian Hate During COVID-19", was initiated by The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). It analyzed AAHIs using data from January 2020 to December 2021 from media data compiled by TAAF and law enforcement data documented by the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

The study examined the relationship between social factors and anti-Asian hate, and found that there is no correlation between AAHIs and political party affiliation. Such incidents happened in counties of both Republican and Democratic strongholds.

The data suggested that AAHIs were correlated to economic conditions. Counties with more income inequality, lower median household income and more free lunch recipients tended to have more AAHIs incidents. Conversely, counties with higher homeownership saw fewer AAHIs.

Poor health also was connected to AAHIs. Counties with more drug overdose deaths and less sleep time saw a higher number of AAHIs.

TAAF said that such results were consistent with previous research that has found that income inequality is a strong predictor of neighborhood turmoil and violent crime in general.

The study noticed a discrepancy between the two data sets: for the same period, the media reported 1,288 AAHIs while the FBI recorded 1,087.

At the local level, the discrepancy is large for some counties, the data showed. For example, For San Francisco, the media reported 113 AAHIs while the FBI recorded 70. In Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, the media reported 56 hate incidents while the FBI recorded none.

There were reverse discrepancies, too. In Los Angeles, the FBI reported 90 incidents while the media reported 79. In Indiana County, Pennsylvania, the FBI reported 27 incidents while the media reported none.

In its news release, TAAF said the discrepancies can be attributed to a variety of factors, including news coverage of incidents that may not legally be categorized as crimes, and victims choosing not to report incidents.

TAAF said there is a need for improved measures to encourage reporting, whether to law enforcement or to community-based support organizations, in order to accurately capture the full scope of anti-Asian hate incidents.

TAAF's New York City Safety Study released earlier this year also found that Asian Americans who experienced a hate crime are less likely to report incidents to police (56 percent) than those who witnessed (69 percent) it.

The most common barriers to reporting were a reluctance to bring additional attention to themselves, not feeling comfortable dealing with law enforcement, or not knowing how to report.   

"These findings clearly show that there's work to be done when it comes to both tracking and reporting anti-Asian hate incidents and addressing the factors that contribute to incidents in the first place," said Norman Chen, president and CEO of TAAF, in the release. 

Anti-Asian hate incidents continue to be an issue in the United States. TAAF recently released its 2024 STAATUS Index (Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the United States), an annual survey of Americans' attitudes toward Asian Americans.

The survey showed that about one-third of Asian Americans were called a slur in the past year, and 61 percent of Asian Americans think that hatred toward them has increased in the past year.