Most people who live in the current day of age have heard of racism. With social media, many people are able to see racism happening around the world. From viral videos to social media posts, to comment sections. And unfortunately, there are those who are victims of racism.

While some racism is recognizable, racism towards Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) has been dismissed for too long. Racism towards AAPI has improved; however, with the current pandemic, racism towards AAPI has risen by a significant amount. According to NBC News, in the years 2019-2020 alone, anti-Asian hate crimes have risen by approximately

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145%. 

Hate crimes could range to be verbal harassment to physical assault. Verbal harassment may be related to the coronavirus pandemic, name-calling, and etc. It has even occurred in classrooms. The assaults could severely harm individuals and even cause death. 

In total, there have been about 3,800 reported hate crimes towards Asian Americans. 

Hate crimes are not just assaults. It is also discrimination and shunning. There have been such hate crimes toward Asian Americans. 

The coronavirus has brought more reports of racism violence against Asian Americans. It has brought some myths among the facts about coronavirus. Some of the myths have been against Asian-Americans; despite the facts on CDC.gov, people act upon the myths to cause harm to others. 

There was an incident reported to be in New York. A man had violently assaulted a woman, an Asian woman. The story was originally shared on Twitter. It is one of many incidents that exemplify racism towards Asian Americans. 

Another incident was reported to occur in California. An 8-year-old boy had coughed in class. His teacher had sent him to the nurse’s office. When the boy got cleared to return to class, many of his classmates had teased him for having coronavirus. 

It was found that the teacher would not send anyone else to the office for coughing. They were not Asian-American, but the 8-year-old boy was. Robin Toma, an employee of the L.A. County Human Relations Commission, had mentioned that they should speak up about anti-Asian racism. The incident was a mere example of anti-Asian racism occurring in a school setting. 

The teacher had acted upon the fact that the boy was Asian. They did not send any other Americans to the nurse, but him. This was during the pandemic as well. It demonstrates how in a school setting during the pandemic, even teachers have been racist towards Asian Americans. 

What if this were to happen in our own school? What if our own students and peers were victims of this? Maybe not just treated differently, but what if our own students and peers were getting assaulted or harassed. The fact is, some of our students and peers may be victims of such actions but have not spoken up. 

The change and fight against racism should happen everywhere, but we can start in our own community. If we see it in our own community, we can step up and fight against racism. Being silent about racism will only allow it to continue. 

As you see social media posts about racism, do not just ignore them or just interact with the post. Educate yourself about the situation and speak out. Help better the community by speaking out and spreading awareness of racism towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.