A new report shows a high percentage of Asian-Americans in Oregon face racist attacks and harassment. And most incidents go unreported.
The Oregon Values and Beliefs Center conducted surveys with the general public and Asian residents. About half (49%) of respondents reported having racial slurs or degrading language used against them, a relative, or both. 36% said they witnessed such actions on social media, and 19% said they faced threats against them or their property due to their race.
84% said they didn’t report hate crimes or incidents to authorities.
David Tam of the Eugene/Springfield Asian Council, offers why that may be.
“It’s very, very cultural that Asian-American people tend to not want to create a ruckus or create more drama towards themselves,” Tam told KLCC. “And lots of times when they are reported, they’re reported by other people, not the actual victims at times, as well.”
Coincidentally, the report follows this week’s vandalization of two Asian restaurants in Eugene, which were tagged with what may be white supremacist symbols.
Tam says there’s been a steady increase in anti-Asian harassment, vandalism, and violence in recent years, noting fears over COVID-19 have led to incendiary terms like “Wuhan flu” or “kung flu” by politicians. He says addressing racism in the home is an important early step, as is confronting and challenging racist language and harassment as it occurs.
In a release, the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center shares several key survey findings:
61% of respondents identified race based harassment as a serious community issue.
49% of respondents indicated they heard someone use a racial slur, epithet or degrading language against them or a family member or both. (Extrapolates to 74,400 Asian Oregonians)
36% of respondents saw someone use a racial slur or epithet of degrading language against them or a family member on social media. (Extrapolates to 54,700 Asian Oregonians)
19% of respondents reported facing a threat to their person or property because of race. (extrapolates to 28,900 Asian Oregonians)
84% of the respondents did not report the race based bias incident or hate crime.
21% of those who reported a hate crime or harassment incident reported it to the police, indicating an underreporting trend.
33% of respondents reported reducing the amount of time spent in the community to engage with friends and family, physical activity or go shopping because of a race-based bias incident or hate crime. (Extrapolates to 50,100 Asian Oregonians)
39% of respondents reported worrying that their children will become victims of hate crime or harassment. (Extrapolates to 59,000 Asian Oregonians)
87% of respondents reported not seeking out mental health support following a direct or indirect experience with hate crime or harassment.
Furthermore, the center’s release says data indicates that Asian seniors are frequent targets of hate crimes and therefore reluctant to leave their homes, engage in their community, or go to the grocery store.
“OVBC data indicates that 41% of the respondents who had experienced hate crime or harassment were 50+. AARP has strongly condemned all racially motivated violence and harassment and is working to increase public awareness of its impact on people 50+,” it adds.
Copyright @2022, KLCC.
