Racist incidents targeting Asian Americans occurred before COVID-19, but the pandemic has increased the frequency and level of bullying, worrying Asian American students and their parents, said an article published by The Columbus Dispatch, a daily newspaper based in Ohio, on Monday.
One in eight Asian Americans reported hate incidents in 2020, according to AAPI Data, a national coalition battling the problem, and one in 10 reported anti-Asian hate incidents in the first quarter of 2021, including physical assaults, verbal harassment, civil rights violations and online harassment, the article said.
Hate crimes against Asian-Americans overall have reached an "alarming level" in the United States, the article said, noting that more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans were reported from March to May.
With the rise in hate incidents nationwide and the new school year less than a month away, many Asian American students in central Ohio are bracing for the potential of new or continued verbal assaults by fellow students when they return to school in the fall, the article added.
