Asian hate

NEW YORK – Hate crimes are appalling as they are heartbreaking but especially Asian hate crimes because Filipinos are among the victims. The stories and videos that made it to our timelines since the problem erupted during the pandemic showed so many random hateful acts against Asians.

You would see people in train stations suddenly attacked or old people getting hit out of nowhere by non-Asians.

In 2021, CNN reported a horrific attack on a 65-year-old woman in this city.

“The woman of Filipino descent was punched and kicked in front of a New York City apartment complex in broad daylight by an attacker who allegedly made anti-Asian statements toward her,” according to the CNN report.

There were other stories in the same report – a 38-year-old Asian man was punched in the face near Penn Station also here in New York while a 54-year-old woman was hospitalized after being struck in the face by a metal object.

It’s difficult to imagine how it was like for Asians to live in the US at the time. There must have been so much fear and uncertainty just walking home from work or doing an errand as mundane as buying something from the grocery store.

Hate crimes

More than three years after the pandemic, however, Asian hate crimes are no longer prevalent, at least in New York and nearby states, Philippine Consul General (New York) Senen Mangalile said during a recent press briefing here at the Philippine Center New York.

ConGen Senen said “hate crimes” in general still exist and are still a concern for Filipino-Americans in the 10 states that are under the jurisdiction of the consulate.

“Actually, I would always say, there are no Asian hate crimes (anymore) here in New York, just hate crimes,” he told visiting Filipino journalists who are part of the United States’ Friends, Partners, Allies program.

But ConGen Mangalile was quick to add that he is only speaking about the jurisdiction of the Philippine consulate in New York, which covers the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

There are roughly 400,000 members of the Fil-Am community in the ten states covered by the consulate and they are among some 4.4 million Filipinos living in the US, according to US statistics.

Hate crimes, in general, are mostly driven by mental health issues, he said.

“They know that it’s now happening to everybody so they’re being careful and taking extra precautions,” said ConGen Mangalile.

It was the COVID-19 pandemic that triggered the so-called Asian hate and discrimination across America as many have wrongfully blamed Asian immigrants including Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos for bringing the virus to the US.

A 2021 Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate study said Filipinos ranked third (8.9 percent) among Asians who experienced such incidents and crimes, next to Chinese-Americans (42.8 percent) and Koreans (16.1 percent).

My co-participant in this program, Joyce Rocamora of the Philippine News Agency (PNA). interviewed Filipino caregiver Belinda Thomas, who has been living in Manhattan for 16 years.

She shared the same observation about declining Asian hate crimes.

“I agree with that because I never experienced that. I’m always here in Manhattan, and I never experienced Asian hate here in New York City,” she said in a report published by the PNA on April 27.

Thomas said that despite reported incidents in the past, she still feels safe living and working in the state.

A world history of hatred and discrimination

Throughout the history of the world, there have been so many hate crimes and acts of discrimination.

This should not be the case because as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that we all have the right to a life free from discrimination and degrading treatment.”

We Filipinos must also be aware of this.

Last week, Cecilio K. Pedro, president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. or FFCCCII expressed concern over recent “inflammatory remarks made by certain politicians regarding the presence of a small number of Chinese students in Cagayan province, northern Philippines.”

“These unfair and negative statements contradict our nation’s efforts to attract Chinese tourists and investors,” Pedro said, adding that this is unjust criticism directed toward Chinese students who have come to the Philippines to enhance their English proficiency.

Furthermore, he said such remarks not only undermine our country’s hospitality but also impede efforts to foster stronger ties between our nations and to de-escalate tensions.

Some government officials have raised the alarm on the “influx” of Chinese students in Cagayan.

But Pedro said there should instead be a more constructive “discourse that respects diversity” and thus pave the way for a more stable future for the two countries.

He is right in saying this because the last thing we want to see is our own version of Asian hate spreading in our country.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.