Asian Pacific Islander organizations issue statement against hate, discrimination amid COVID-19

More than 50 local Asian and Pacific Islander organizations issued a statement Thursday denouncing racist attacks, discrimination and xenophobia against San Diego’s Asian and Pacific Islander residents and businesses.

The groups are calling on community members to avoid harmful language and xenophobic terms, which has grown during the coronavirus pandemic. The organizations specifically ask community members to avoid using such labels as “China coronavirus,” “Chinese coronavirus” and “Wuhan Virus.”

“Use of such language has led to an alarming increase in consequences, ranging from unintended microaggressions to acts of violence and hate towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — further encouraging xenophobia, racism, and dividing us all,” the statement read.

There are more than 1,530 confirmed coronavirus cases and 36 deaths related to the virus in San Diego County. Worldwide there are more than 1.5 million cases and more than 85,500 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

The novel coronavirus was first detected in a seafood market in Wuhan, China in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-19 can cause mild to severe illness, especially in individuals 65 years and older or those with underlying health conditions.

Asians and Pacific Islanders made up 12 percent of San Diego County’s population in 2018, according to the San Diego Association of Governments. There are an estimated 30,000 Asian and Pacific Islander-owned businesses in the county, according to the Asian Business Association of San Diego.

Accounts of hate crimes captured on social media were mounting in the early months of the pandemic, and a rally was held in San Francisco to protest prejudice and racial profiling against Asian Americans.

Some elected officials were quick to caution community members about misinformation and spoke out against racism toward Asian-Americans.

In early-February San Diego Councilman Chris Cate and County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher were joined by local business owners in the Convoy District to encourage residents to shop at Asian-owned businesses. The Convoy District in Kearny Mesa is home to hundreds of Asian-owned businesses.

“One in every three residents in my district is of Asian American descent,” said Councilman Cate in a statement Friday. “I believe xenophobia, racism, or violence against anyone based on their ethnicity is one hundred percent unacceptable.”

Long before there was a stay-at-home order, Asian and Pacific Islander business as early as January saw a drop in business, as concerns about the coronavirus spread in the United States, according to the local business group.

“While the broader business community has been impacted the last two to three weeks, Asian businesses have been impacted the last two to three months,” said Jason Paguio, president and CEO of the Asian Business Association. “This resulted in many local businesses not just being devastated but decimated. And this was all on unfounded and unfair attacks, prior to any government mandates, when there was a general fear of patronizing Asian-owned businesses.”

Local Asian and Pacific Islander organization members and business owners have reported being victims of racist and xenophobic acts.

Kent Lee, executive director of the Pacific Arts Movement, said local organizations have collected mostly anecdotal stories, such as the one where a woman who is Australian-born and of Malaysian Chinese descent was verbally harassed about the “Chinese virus” while in a San Marcos Costco and a Filipino family visiting Oceanside who was told they were responsible for “starting the coronavirus.”

Erin Chew said she was returning a shopping cart on Sunday when a man began talking to his female partner about the “Chinese virus” and how China was responsible. Chew said the man raised his voice as she got closer to them, so she assumed it was intentional.

Chew confronted the man, who she said seemed surprised to hear her Australian accent. Chew works as a freelance writer and often writes about the racism toward Asian Australians.

“I was probably the worst person for him to say that to,” Chew said, adding that her feelings about the incident came later. “You feel slightly disheartened, because no matter how many times you talk about this issue on social media and media outlets, you do feel hurt.”

The Los Angeles-based Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, San Francisco-based Chinese for Affirmative Action and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department launched an online reporting center called STOP AAPI HATE, on March 19, to gather such stories.

The center documented 1,135 reports of verbal harassment, shunning and physical assault across the U.S. from March 26 through April 1, according to an April 3 report. California had the most cases, reporting nearly 43 percent, followed by New York’s 18.5 percent.

The coalition of 50 local Asian and Pacific Islander organizations that signed the statement included the Asian Business Association of San Diego; the Pacific Arts Movement, which hosts the annual San Diego Asian Film Festival, and the UCSD Pacific Islander Student Association.

They urged elected officials and community leaders to publicly condemn and stand against xenophobia and racism.

“Let us come together as one San Diego in fighting this viral threat, building solidarity through collective action, and working towards a stronger, more compassionate, more inclusive tomorrow,” the statement read.

The organizations also encourage victims and witnesses to acts of hate as a result of COVID-19 to report it on pacarts.org/StopAPIHate.