Protesters gathered in New York over the weekend, and it turns out United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres is also concerned about the issues rallying parties raised regarding anti-Asian hate crimes.
UN Hits Trump
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said that Guterres "expresses his full support for the victims and families" who were dragged into the racist and hate-inspired attacks that took place recently.
Haq also seemed to take aim at former U.S. president Donald Trump when he said the world was witness to "incendiary language by those in positions of power."
The latest data on anti-Asian hate crimes indicated that since March 2020, violence against people of Asian descent increased. It was the same month when Trump referred to the novel coronavirus as the "China virus."
Aside from mentioning incitement of hate crimes from people who held power, Haq said Asian women became specific targets of assault in some countries, "adding misogyny to the toxic mix of hatred."
Haq went on to urge people to stop the violence and put an end to years of stereotyping and abuse of the Asian community.
Protests across New York City
The U.N.'s message regarding recent attacks on Asian communities came one day after multiple protests sprung up across New York City.
On Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered in different NYC locations to call for an end to the attacks that drew fear from the Asian community over the past few months.
After a demonstration in the city, a woman was attacked by a yet-to-be-identified man. Local police are already investigating the incident, besides two others during the day of protests.
The assault cases that emerged across New Yoork city during the weekend while protests took place in support of Asian-American victims included a woman of Asian descent who was attacked and thrown to the ground.
Advocates that stand against anti-Asian hate crimes said that the criminal justice system's challenges in proving racist-related motives to some of the attacks was due to loopholes in specific laws that supposedly protect people from hate crimes.
Is There a Cure to Change the Asian Hate Mindset?
In an op-ed for CNN, professor of American Studies at Amherst College and co-author of Asian America, Pawan Dhingra wrote that the "most effective way is through education."
Dhingra said that most Americans do not receive adequate knowledge about Asian Americans, and popular media "continues to mock and misrepresent" this particular minority group.
For Dhingra, the U.S. Department of Education can do more in educating people about how Asian-Americans are part of American history as a whole, whether it is through examining the mistakes of the past or acknowledging the contributions and achievements of the community.
