As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grapple the United States, Asian-Americans have become targets of discrimination, verbal abuse and even physical assault.
Thousands of cases of physical assault, verbal abuse and hate speeches against Asian Americans have been rising in the United States since the pandemic started a year ago. They blame Asians for the spread of COVID-19.
The FBI warned at the start of the COVID outbreak in the US that it expected a surge in hate crimes against those of Asian descent. Late last year, the United Nations reported "an alarming level" of racially- motivated violence and other hate incidents against Asian Americans.
It is difficult to determine exact numbers for such crimes and instances of discrimination, as no organizations or governmental agencies have been tracking the issue long-term, and reporting standards can vary region to region.
The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate said it received over 2,800 reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans nationwide last year. The group set up its online self-reporting tool at the start of the pandemic.
Local law enforcement is taking notice too: the New York City hate crimes task force investigated 27 incidents in 2020, a nine fold increase from the previous year. In Oakland, California, police have added patrols and set up a command post in Chinatown.
Over six million Asian Americans, comprising 15 percent of residents in California, according to the latest population estimates, by far the most in any US state. The coronavirus hit the state hard and early, grinding its bustling cities and businesses to a halt. The virus has already claimed over 50,000 Californian lives.
From March to May 2020 alone, over 800 COVID -related hate incidents were reported from 34 counties in the state, according to a report released by the Asian Pacific Policy Planning Council.
Those numbers have since intensified in Orange County, where anti-Asian hate incidents are up by an estimated 1200percent, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. In Los Angeles County, hate crimes accounted for 115 percent, said the CBS News.
Advocates for Asian Americans say the violence can be linked to rising anti-Asian sentiment in the US. Some have directly blamed the anti-China rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who often made mention of the pandemic as the "China virus" or the "kung flu".
These incidents are best explained by the "widespread omission" of Asian Americans within cultural conversations, according to Amanda Nguyen, an activist and the founder of the Rise civil rights not-for-profit organization.
Although the Asian population grew faster than other major groups in the last US census, the community's stories are not widely- covered in the media and its concerns are not polled by political parties, Ms Nguyen told the BBC.
"They have made us a scapegoat to enact their violence."
"We are in a moment of reckoning right now," Nguyen adds. "We have been systematically erased on every single level and people can start to combat that by educating themselves about us."