Hate Crimes

Hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased in the past year, a development that experts say is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, bias-based crimes against Asians rose nearly 150 percent in major U.S. cities, and the trend has continued this year. Many blame the increase on the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who called COVID-19 the “China virus” and “kung flu.” While the pandemic has highlighted anti-Asian animus, hate crimes generally are on the rise against other racial, ethnic and religious groups and among people targeted due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Researchers say these crimes are often significantly underreported and underprosecuted, and lawmakers hope new federal statutes designed to improve state and local hate crime reporting will better define the scope of the problem. Others say that merely gathering better statistics will not solve the problem and want more prosecutions of bias-based crimes. Critics of hate crime laws say they violate free speech rights and create special protections for certain groups based on political considerations.