Washington State Leaders Denounce Anti-Asian Violence

WASHINGTON — Several of Washington's top officials gathered in Renton City Hall Monday to denounce the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian residents and communities in Washington and across America.

"Acts of hate and violence have once again struck the soul of our country," said Toshiko Hasegawa, executive director of the Washington's Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. "Members of the public are not just afraid, they are angry. They want justice, they want to feel safe when they walk the streets, and they want accountability for hate speech, they want offenders of bias-motivated hate crimes brought to justice."

Over the past year, the United States has seen a rise in hate crimes against Asian communities and community members. That's been true in Washington as well. Speakers at Monday's conference noted that hatred is nothing new — Washington has seen hate crimes against communities of color grow over the past five years — but that the meteoric rise in hate crimes targeting Asians can be traced in part to those who blame China and other Asian nations for the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Anti-Asian sentiment has always existed, but it has only intensified since the outbreak of COVID-19 because of anti-immigrant, anti-Chinese, and pro-white supremacist rhetoric stoked as part of a political platform," said Hasegawa.

Speaking at Monday's conference, Gov. Jay Inslee did not call out former President Donald Trump by name, but clearly indicated that Trump's insistence on calling COVID-19 the "China virus" had played a part in stoking fear and hatred. Inslee said everyone must stand against that kind of racism going forward.

"When we had a figure in our country, the highest elected official of the United States, call this a 'Chinese virus' and a 'Asian flu' where were the voices speaking against that fanning the flames of this hatred and fear?" asked Inslee. "We need these voices to speak up."

Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition effort pushing back against anti-Asian hate crimes, says they received 3,795 reports of hate crimes between March 19, 2020 and February 28, 2021. Of those, 158 were reported in Washington. That makes Washington the state with the third-highest number of individual hate crimes targeting Asian Americans, after New York and California.

"This rise of anti-Asian violence is a continuation of xenophobia Asian Americans have experienced through our history," said Rep. My-Linh Thai, (D-Bellevue). "To stop Asian hate, we must write laws that dismantle white supremacy. We must reimagine public safety to support the movement for Black lives. We must end violence against all communities of color."

In particular, Thai says the state legislature can support vulnerable Asian community members — and in particular, low income immigrants — by protecting the right to housing, supporting low income families, shutting down the Northwest Detention Center, and tamping down on the deportation of refugees.

"At the legislature, we are committing to breaking down systemic racism in Washington to build stronger democracy," Thai said.

While investigators have not officially declared it a hate crime, Monday's conference also comes as a response to the recent Asian massage parlor shooting in Atlanta. The mass shooting killed eight people, six of whom were Asian women. State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos (D-Seattle) began her portion of the conference by reading the names of the shooting victims.

"It is important that we call their names into this space to ensure that this is not a one moment in time recollection," said Santos. "Because the fact is, anti-Asian violence, anti-Asian bias and xenophobia have been with us in this country for centuries."

Echoing Thai's call for legislation to combat racism, both Inslee and King County Executive Dow Constantine have promised future action on the issue.

Constantine says his office will be providing $5 million in grants to community-based organizations fighting hatred and bias, and ethnic media groups, among other solutions.

"Building an anti-racist government is not easy," Constantine said. "Building an anti-racist institution, public or private, takes an enormous amount of work and reflection and the willingness to be vulnerable. But the investments, and the accountability, and the work ahead, difficult as they may be, are work that has to be done."