How are folks feeling about the recent violence towards the Asian community? For the Asians in this group, how are you feeling about your own sense of safety around the city?

It’s getting media attention now because it’s what the media decided to push as a narrative (fits with the whole post trump Covid deal) I immigrated with my parents as a child and therefore lived through the process of my parents assimilation. I grew up working behind (what white people would only see) bullet proof glass at my parents corner store in Baltimore city. It was not uncommon to be murdered, held up at gunpoint, see people stab each other over $5, etc and understand just how life is unfair for blacks and other minorities. There’s an irony in seeing my privileged white peers with their black squares and BLM signs on their windows in gentrified neighborhoods when in reality the only minorities they interact with are like.. their Amazon delivery ppl or whoever’s making their sweetgreens salad. Bc they’ve lived a life of privilege they fail to see the contemporary forms of racism and only see overt acts. The sex worker nature of the killings is a reminder of the limited opportunities my parents faced. There’s a reason why despite working as a migrant worker, opening and operating their own businesses, saving every penny and becoming homeowners, sending their kids to college, etc that they still can’t get a job at their local Walmart.

I long ago accepted racism as a fact of life and all this latest covid-fueled surge of anti-Asian racism has done is made me lose the little remaining faith I had in the American public. Neither side of the political spectrum truly cares about us. The right paints us as a yellow peril. The left resents our average economic and educational success and uses it to render invisible the real issues we face (e.g., Asians have the highest poverty rate in NYC but receive among the lowest government aid). What use is there in caring about a society that puts up REAL barriers to our advancement (see: college admissions, employment) and for the past year has attacked us for something for which we have absolutely 0 culpability? For God’s sake, I’ve never even set foot in China.

Let me help y’all out here. this creeper associated these Asian spas with sex. Why? American culture hypersexualizes Asian women. That is racist.

I’m Asian. Just last year I was walking out of the subway on my way to work during rush hour and I was verbally assaulted and harassed by some man I don’t even know. He spewed out very racist insults and I was scared for my life. Everyone witnessed it and not a single person stepped in. I pretended to ignore him but he kept following me almost all the way to my office building. I feared for my life and broke down in front of my team once I actually got in and my mind processed the whole event. I’m the only POC on my team so no one really understood what I went through. Events like these are not new, but has only worsened with the events of the past year.

I’m an Asian American female and terrified for myself and my parents. I have never felt this way before. I was born and raised in the city and lived here all my life so don’t tell me to move somewhere else. I still go out alone (during the day, in popular/crowded neighborhoods) but I’m hyper vigilant of my surroundings now and am always bracing myself. How fortunate for the non POC people in this thread to brush aside my fears.

I don’t feel safe walking around the city anymore...need to always be on guard

East Asian female here. Have been a little more "eyes up" recently but otherwise going about my daily routine as usual.

Random acts of anti-East Asian racism (sometimes violent) are just a fact of life here in NYC 🤷🏻‍♀️ people were getting pushed off subway platforms & getting their faces bashed in long before the Trump admin came in. Hell, my grandma used to get harassed on the subway in the 90s.

Well, I’m glad Asian Americans are finally getting some visibility and (some?) politicians are starting to pay attention. I feel like they’re so often ignored, despite being a minority group. I’m not sure if more “Covid hate crime” legislation or whatever the Biden administration is asking Congress to do really helps the issue though. Just seems like a colorful band aid so they can look like they are “doing something.”

I worry that the media is making people more scared than they need to be. Prior to this one horrific incident, people were less scared despite the statistics being largely the same. Is it rational for our fears to ramp up so highly bc the media decided to sensationalize this?

My anxiety whenever I go out now is much more heightened, but so are my awareness levels (partially because of incidents , partially because covid).

What really pisses me off is the attacks on those who are less equipped to defend themselves — particularly Asian elders. As if elders in general haven’t gone through enough in their lives + the added vulnerability of this past year.

I’m not Asian, so I can’t speak for how terrifying it must be. It’s also frustrating in that I don’t see how we stop this. Maybe it’s because I’m definitely in a bubble, but I don’t see where it is suddenly coming from (Twitter, insta, news media). We need to know the nucleation site but my worry is that this might be more racist hive mind reacting to Covid than a single source. Anyone understand differently? Would really appreciate some perspective

Could the ever increasing radicalization of minds by social media algorithms have anything to do with the rise in strife, attacks and mass shootings?

This appears similar to what the Arabs faced after 2001. The problem is educating people to be able to understand that an ethnic group is not homogeneous and to reduce the barriers between races. Otherwise today it will be Asians and tomorrow another group. We need to take actions that tackle racism as a whole.

I grew up in LA getting bullied everyday for being Asian. I’ve since trained in self-defense and my ability to diffuse tense situations. In some ways, I’m used to the violence and expect nothing short to stay alert and speak up

Violence towards the Asian community was always there. It’s just being reported more now.

Personally, I feel safe because I’m tall and don’t look like an easy target. I worry for the ones that cannot defend themselves.

This makes me want to do Enter the Dragon on them ***** asses.

Im on the lookout. I have no problem catching a case to rectify a disillusioned racist idiot.

This might sound radical to some but my advice for all Asians is to buy guns and “show your Americanness” (a bad quote from Andrew Yang 🤪)

It’s not recent. It’s the media and corporate America’s flavor of the week. This has been going on for years. Same with other forms of racism. The light is on Asians now. Last summer, following George Floyd, it was Black Americans, months before it was Jewish folks.