By Michael Omoruan

Hate crimes in major cities in the United States such as Los Angeles, California, and New York City involving Asian people has increased by almost 150 percent from 3 reported crimes to 26 and 7 to more than double at 15 respectively, according to a study conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.

Many factors could be playing a role in this but Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of demographic data and policy research nonprofit AAPI Data, believes that former President Donald Trump and his repeated comments on China being the country of origin for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have increased the hate towards the Asian community.

“What Trump did is that he weaponized it in a way,” Ramakrishnan told NBC “Trump's rhetoric helps set a certain narrative in place — and presidents have an outsized role in terms of shaping narrative. They don't call it a bully pulpit for nothing, and especially Trump, the way he frequently used Twitter as well as press conferences and off-the-cuff remarks to campaign rallies to frame the narrative in a particular way, it likely played a role.”

Jennifer Tam, co-founder and marketing chair of Welcome to Chinatown, a grassroots initiative that supports local businesses and communities in the neighborhood, echoed Ramakrishnan’s comments.

“The atmosphere of the businesses is both a heightened sense of fear for safety, but true to Chinatown's spirit, everyone remains resilient,” Tam said. “I think this speaks to the spirit of the community -- driven largely by immigrants or multi-generational family operations, who work hard to make ends meet... I don't step out of my home anymore unless absolutely necessary, as a safety precaution. It's unfortunate given that like many New Yorkers, I am anxiously waiting for things to return to normal in the city following this pandemic, yet I think many Asian Americans are feeling that we should still remain home for our safety and the unknown of what could happen as anti-Asian violence has become more prevalent.”

On March 16, another racially motivated hate crime occurred as eight people were killed in massage parlors in the Atlanta, Georgia area with six of the victims being of Asian descent. Local authorities captured the suspect in Crisp County, a 21-year-old man identified as Robert Aaron Long who claimed he committed these atrocities due to a “sex addiction”. He is currently being held without bond in Cherokee County, where he faces four counts of murder and a charge of aggravated assault, according to the county sheriff's office.

Lizy Yee, the owner of Tonii's Fresh Rice Noodle in Downtown New York, describes the atmosphere at her shop as generally safe because of a network of businesses that look out for one another. But Yee is angered by the thought of people being afraid of racially motivated violence.

“The recent crime surge gets me angry because no way should ANY elders have to look over their shoulders when they go out. No way should they be scared to go out in public because of their skin color or because of how they look.”