Stop Asian Hate movement demonstrates effective sociocultural response to Asian hate

Mia Cho
Managing Editor

In response to the influx of hate crimes against Asian Americans, the Stop Asian Hate movement has worked to demand an end to these attacks, which are believed to be caused by xenophobia rooted in irresponsible media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Los Angeles Times, racism against Asian Americans in the United States is not new; however, these hate crimes have increased exponentially within recent months. The Stop Asian Hate movement has utilized social media, in-person protests, as well as dialogue across demographics to encourage an understanding of these hate crimes, creating an effective sociocultural response to Asian hate.

Although anti-Asian hate does branch off of institutional racism to a certain extent, many incidents of racism against Asian Americans occur in interpersonal conversations, interactions, and person to person contact. In comparison to other minority groups in the United States, much of anti-Asian racism is not rooted in a blunt economic disparity which can serve as a prominent determining factor of inequality in a capitalist society such as the United States. Wealth is a significant factor in determining inequality because the income gap between different races reinforces the gap between communities, level of education, safety, crime, creating a never-ending cycle of disparity between racial groups.

In fact, according to Pew Research, Asian Americans are one of the highest earning income groups in the United States, paralleling their white counterparts. Despite the fact that Asian Americans are not as economically disadvantaged as other minorities, racism is still prevalent, just in a different form: microaggressions.

According to the New York Times, microaggressions are seemingly commonplace statements that are offensive or demeaning to a marginalized group. For example, the infamous “where are you really from” is a common microaggression many Asian Americans have heard over time. Although microaggressions may be rooted in institutionalized racism, they can be combated with sociocultural movements such as the Stop Asian Hate movement. The goal of sociocultural movements are to propel change using social and cultural perspective and context, which is impactful in cases of individual racism.

Therefore, social media is helpful in spreading awareness about this issue. Because individual racism is a sociocultural problem in the United States, using social movements such as the Stop Asian Hate movement is a significant step towards eliminating offensive microaggressions that are still acceptable today.

The idea of “awareness” has gained a new meaning following the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, creating a new culture on social media of infographics, reposting news stories, and more in an effort to spread awareness on injustices occurring around the world. This is especially effective to combat individual racism, because it is almost entirely social.

This movement is incredibly relevant to the Costa and greater Los Angeles community. Because much of the culture that defines LA relies on the diversity of races, cultures, and lifestyles, social movements such as the Stop Asian hate movement are necessary to ensure that all communities within LA feel accepted.