The shootings in several Atlanta spas have raised concerns regarding the Asian Americans into the headlines. And it’s not like it happened just once – unfortunately, the accidents keep increasing every single day to the point that celebrities have started speaking about the incident.

This has led to a sense of fear amongst the entire community – they’re afraid that they could get attacked any day. The problem has been there since the beginning of the pandemic, for which we can thank our ex-president.

We’ll share one example one with you: in the January of last year, Yuchen Ye visited her parents in China and, when she came back wearing a mask on the train, she was being stared at – and it was really hostile.

This happened in March and April, because that’s when people didn’t understand what the coronavirus actually was. Due to this incident, Yuchen started covering her face as much as possible. She was not just worried about her work visa anymore, but also felt that she had to continuously prove herself to the world that she’s not carrying the disease.

As you may already know, due to the coronavirus, the Asian community is being attacked viciously and is being discriminated against.

These are not just one-off incidents of xenophobia, but pre-planned attacks. You can see the recent attacks in Atlanta as an example. The violence against the seniors is making headlines and doesn’t reflect too well on the nation.

And it’s not like there’s just physical assault - people are getting discriminated and treated differently just because of the way they look. It’s exhausting and anxiety-inducing. The stress caused by such fear is incomparable, because every person is afraid that they’ll be the next target.

Although the accidents started last year, the intensity as well as the frequency of the physical assaults has only just increased. Because of this very reason, studies have started emerging. The recent publication by Dr. Gloria Wong, for example, has revealed that there’s been a significant rise in the micro assaults. 

In addition to this, the study also concluded that every day racism has led to the development of poor self-esteem amongst the Asian community. They’re experiencing a sense of inferiority and low self-worth, because of which, the anxiety has doubled.

In recent times, many celebrities have talked about these vicious attacks. As per AAPI, Asian Americans are now taking more mental health services than any other group. And we’re already aware of the stigma related to mental health that is so evident within the Asian communities.

Last year was tough on everybody, not just the White community. Hence, we must keep in mind that mental health services are disrupted and it was a bad space for everyone to be in. Hence, to be put through so much stress— when you’re already feeling low— is really saddening.

It was a time when people were isolated, depressed, and anxious to their core. They were concerned about their health, they had no idea what the future held, they were grieving the loss of a family member, and there was a significant level of financial insecurity as well.

People from the Asian community have been forced to “go back to their country”, treated poorly at their workplace, and unnecessarily targeted due to their features.

“Some children have shared things such as ‘They tell me to go back to my country, but this is my country’ or ‘they said I ruined our country.”

Like we mentioned before, people have been making derogatory jokes on a daily basis, which has resulted in significant demoralizing. Even young kids would talk about Asians in a derogatory tone and speak about the fact that they “eat bats”.

These incidents are essentially labeled as microagressions and they’re highly alarming. Avoiding eye contact and walking past an Asian American person and “feeling scared” is also a sign of microagression.

It’s obvious that one of the most significant people behind this is Donald Trump, because he gave the impression to Americans that coronavirus is a Chinese Virus. He asked people to drink bleach at one point as well!

Anyway, you can tell by his statements that he knew nothing about the virus and that he was the wrong person to be a President at the time. He is the reason why so many Americans are openly being racist and discriminating against the Asian American community.

Anyway, like our page for more information on anti-Asian racism, as we’ll be covering this topic even more in future.

The surge of anti-Asian attacks are a painful reality in the world as of now and its not just restricted to North America. The Atlanta shooting highlights were only one of the many attacks. Thus, it’s time we all come together and stop the rising anti-Asian attacks.