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The number of local hate crimes is low, but the trend line is rising even as most incidents go unreported: That’s the message from Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen and Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
Acts against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are just a fraction of the area’s reported hate crimes, which can target victims not only because of race but also because of disability, gender, nationality, religion or sexual orientation, Jonsen and Rosen said during several recent presentations on the topic.
Three out of the 10 hate crimes filed so far this year in Santa Clara County were against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Rosen said. In 2020, a total of 14 hate crimes in all categories were filed, he added.
Palo Alto has averaged about 4.8 hate crimes a year since 2016 — up from 3.6 hate crimes a year from 2006 to 2015, Jonsen said. Two-thirds of those pertain to property, such as vandalism of signs, and about one-third are physical crimes like assaults, he said.
“Santa Clara County is a relatively safe county, and Palo Alto is extremely safe,” Jonsen said.
But the data probably captures just a small fraction of actual incidents, both officials said.
“We believe there’s a lot that’s not reported to us,” Jonsen said. “We hear about a lot of things third hand that never get reported to the police department.”
A nonprofit tracking center, Stop AAPI Hate, recorded 3,794 anti-Asian incidents nationwide since its founding in early 2020 to February 2021. The group has created a reporting system for incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at stopaapihate.org. The nonprofit was co-founded by the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action.
Jonsen and Rosen urge the public to report all potential hate crimes and incidents to local police.
If it’s an act of violence, call 911. If it’s even an insensitive remark, call your local police department, Jonsen said.
“We will come out and have a conversation. Even if it doesn’t rise to the level of a crime, we still want to document it,” Jonsen said.
Both officials stressed that hate crimes are motivated by bias and typically involve violence or a criminal act against a person or their property, while hate incidents can include horrible words but don’t involve a criminal threat.
“It’s the difference between words and actions,” Rosen said. “A hate incident is yelling and screaming at someone because they’re Jewish, Asian, Muslim, Black — saying horrible slurs against someone, but that’s all. It’s not threatening to hurt them or throwing a punch at them.”
Jonsen spoke April 16 and April 26 at virtual events organized by Palo Alto City Council member Lydia Kou and Los Altos City Council member Lynette Lee Eng in partnership with Avenidas senior center and the cities of Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Rosen spoke virtually on April 20 to the Yale Club of Silicon Valley.
The impact of the global pandemic including the subsequent loss of lives, economic instability, and restricted gatherings had a lot to do with this.
The blame game is on and a number of people are either verbally venting or taking to open physical hostilities.
All of this is wrong of course and the media often seems to be either disavowing or witholding the true ethnicities of the actual aggressors.
The more liberal-leaning media outlets tend to attribute these recent hate crimes to Trump-inspired white supremacists while not fully acknowledging the countless inner-city attacks on Asians by African Americans, assaults which have been going on for decades and only brought to further light now.
Full accountability and accurate reportage of the perpetrators is critical if we are to address and hopefully resolve this troubling situation.
The question has to be asked, who is doing these hateful things? Here in Palo Alto our demographics are such that we live among all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. They are our neighbors, our friends, our teachers, our police and everything else we mingle with. So who are the people who are doing hateful things to each other?
Any type of crime is hateful. Choosing who to victimize is hateful. Whether it is because they are deemed to be wealthy or poor, deemed to be left leaning or right leaning, deemed to be from one ethnic group or another, it is always hateful. If a victim falls into several different categories, it is still hateful.
Nobody should hate anyone, that should go without saying. So who is it doing these things?
*So who are the people who are doing hateful things to each other?
A good question and one that borders on both locale (i.e. perpetual inner city ethnicity-related conflicts) and standard-bearer racist mindsets which can exist anywhere.
Palo Alto as a whole does not fall into any of these two categories which in turn makes it very difficult for many of its residents to even fathom or comprehend such hate-related crimes.
In other parts of America, the social canvas is entirely different.
@A Clear View- This is Palo Alto!!! We don’t know what reality is!
According to Dr. Gu on Twitter:
“Black on Asian crimes only occur because of our system of white supremacy that strips African Americans of their economic opportunities while taking respect and dignity away from Asian Americans. Also, white people in power are experts at dividing and conquering to stay in power.”
https://twitter.com/eugenegu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1376753301014732803%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftherightscoop.com%2Fasian-american-doctor-reveals-the-reason-behind-all-these-attacks-on-asians-by-blacks%2F
I’m not buying into this particular analysis but everyone is entitled their expert opinions.
Ultimately, there is no excuse for people acting like uncivilized animals regardless of their tortured background.
Better thyself and move on.
Societal hatred is cyclical.
Immediately following 9/11, there was anti-Muslim sentiment.
Now (twenty years later) the focus is targeted towards the Asian population stemming from the encumbrances and tragedies related to the coronavirus.
And as for the farfetched notion that white supremacy deprived African Americans of their economic opportunities while stripping Asian Americans of their dignity and respect, no comment in regards to blatant absurdity.
Pursuing higher education or seeking viable vocational skills is how one achieves economic opportunities and if this option is temporarily unavailable, consider joining the service and pursuing one’s further education or job training via the G.I. Bill.
There is simply no logic in justifying street thugs who go around tormenting others while blaming society for their anti-social actions.
This country has gone to hell.
Lastly and in view of the recent news reports and various video accounts of African Americans attacking elder Asians, most of these individuals would be a poor fit for the armed services due to low IQ, unresolved anger management issues, and incorrigibility.
They would only end up in the brig or be court-martialed and our armed forces do not need those types of individuals including white militant racists.
Arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for hate crimes and assault is perhaps the best option.
And just throw away the keys.
Re: Dr. Gu on Twitter
A practicing physician should stick with his vocational craft and expertise rather than posting absurd left-wing political ideologies on Twitter.
Or become a Sociology professor.
To all Asians during these most troubling of times.
Please be safe as there are people who hate us for who we are.
不安全的 黑人男子
https://nypost.com/2021/05/07/man-accused-of-stomping-on-asian-lady-told-parole-board-he-loved-his-mom-after-killing-her/
What about class hatred? Because I’ve been called things like “rich f*ck” just for walking with a Whole Foods bag in Palo Alto, and thus leading the perpetrators to assume I live in Palo Alto (which I do). Seems that slurs like that should be a crime, too.
– “What about class hatred? Because I’ve been called things like “rich f*ck” just for walking with a Whole Foods bag in Palo Alto,”
@TimR
* Class hatred or mockery is not just targeted towards the presumably wealthy.
Upon leaving The Dollar Store where I had gone shopping for some 9V batteries, a person muttered “poor bast*rd” to his young son in my immediate proximity.
People tend to display their ridicule for others so they can feel better about themselves.
Personal self-esteem enhancements often leave a lot to be desired.