The apparent growing hate of Asian Americans in the US seemed to have sprouted suddenly. We’ve seen on the news of “A historic surge,” of Anti-Asian hate. Some reports say that the rise of these hate crimes rose as much as 169% in the year’s first quarter. Crimes and assaults have become so prevalent, social movements have sprung to try and stem the violence. Even the president addressed the nation and condemned the racism and intolerance against Asian-Americans. But we continue to see acts of racism and the number of crimes rise with no sign of stopping.

We must question why Asians are being harassed and targeted now. Why now are we seeing headlines of Anti-Asian hate? Why does it seem like the sudden attacks on Asians appear to come out of nowhere? And what do people have against Asians that make them want to shove and throw folks like me on the ground? It’s tempting to say that the cause of this hate came from the arrival of COVID-19. “Because COVID came from China, people are blaming Asians for the Pandemic and are upset about being stuck inside, and are now taking their anger out on the folks who brought the disease.” While part of this claim holds some truth to the issue, the seeds of this disdain and hatred were ingrained early in American history and are merely sprouting in times of crisis.

First, we will quickly look at events taking place in Asia, specifically China. In the 1840-50s, the Qing Dynasty was threatened by western powers’ and imperialism. The Frist Opium war saw China defeated by the British. The Second Opium war saw China defeated once more by British and French forces. The results of the wars ended with China being forced into business with Europeans and the loss of Hong Kong to Britain. Around 1850, the Taiping Rebellion sparked a civil war between the Qing Dynasty and the Heavenly Dynasty. The war rebellion ended with a Qing victory and approximately 20-30 million dead. These are only some of the events that were happening within China, creating great unrest within its people. In the hope to leave a life of uncertainty, Chinese folks moved to the Land Of The Free in pursuit of the 1850 Gold Rush and the hope of living a fruitful life in the US.

The ever-growing prejudice against Asians led to multiple attacks. A prominent yet forgotten event that took place occurred in 1871 Los Angeles, the Chinese Massacre. “…tensions were running high in Chinatown because of a feud between leaders of two rival Huignan (mutual benefit associations) over the kidnapping of a young Chinese woman. A shootout between several Chinese men broke out in the middle of Negro Alley. The ensuing response by two police officers resulted in the wounding of one of the officers and the death of a civilian who assisted the officers, Robert Thompson.”

The death of Robert Thompson caused outrage amongst the populous. Word spread like wildfire, cultivating an angry mob of 500 people. Blinded by rage, the mob attacked any Chinese folks they could find. They dragged them out of buildings and to makeshift gallows. Varying accounts of events make it impossible to know exactly what happened. The results of that day ended with 19 deaths. 17 of the bodies were laid out in a jail yard. The first man who was killed was buried before sunrise. In total, 10% of the Chinese Population in LA was killed. Of the folks killed, it’s thought that only one person, who originally participated in the gunfight was killed. The rest were not involved in any way, innocent Chinese folks were killed through blind hate. The 1871 Chinese Massacre was not the only incident where Asians were prosecuted. There was the Rock Springs Massacre in 1885, where around 28-50 Chinese miners were killed. The Seattle Riots of 1886, resulting in the forced expulsions of +200 Chinese civilians from their homes.

With a brief overview of the history of Anti-Asian sentiment in the US, we understand that America never took too kindly to them. We saw when Asians first immigrated, they were exploited for cheap labor, they were seen as “sickly, evil-eyed, inferior Chinaman”, they were beaten and killed, and they were deemed as “illegal” to be in this Country. So is that the reason why we now are seeing this rise in Anti-Asian hate? While yes, the deep-rooted bigotry in American history does play a role, we need not look any further than the growing “threat” that China has on American Imperialistic ideas. Chinese-American relationships have been shaky at best. While both China and the US have reasons to be distrustful of each other, we will be looking specifically at the US and how the fight for World Superpower is affecting Asian Americans.

But instead of seeing the US take the business approach to competition in offering a better service, we are seeing US officials and the media promote Anti-China, fear-mongering propaganda. They promote the same caricatures of “disease-bearing Chinese'' we've heard before using the current COVID-19 pandemic as leverage. News outlets and politicians have called the new Coronavirus “the China Virus'', “the Wuhan Virus,'' or “the Kung-flu”. These more racist terms are used more often with the Republican Party, but there are also Democrats who push the similar anti-Chinese sentiment. They instead of painting a picture of “the sick/infected Chinese”, chose to instead make less racially-charged claims of the “sneaky Chinese hacker threatening our democracy.” We’ve seen these similar claims against other nations who US officials feel threatened by. Claims of “the Russian or Iranian hackers'' keep appearing to paint a picture of the US being the victim of foreign aggression. We see nearly every night on the news some negative segment on China.

So, with the added context of Asian-American history, the History of American Racism, the dehumanization of outsiders, and the new growing Cold War between the US and China, it’s clear to see why now Asians are being targeted in America. It's American Imperialism that is fueling this prejudice within the American population. The US-made Anti-Japanese propaganda during WWII. They made Anti-Vietnamese propaganda during the Vietnam war. And now, we are seeing Anti-Chinese propaganda during our new Cold War. Each time, the American public fails to distinguish between ethnicities, and each era suffered from general Anti-Asian hate. The US government and corporate media are manufacturing hate to gain the consent of its people to further grip the world through exploitation of foreign nations and war. This hate will spread across the American populist, and fuel the cry for American Imperialism and ultra-nationalism.

This hate is not a personal issue. The problem won’t go away if everyone “stops being racist.” It’s a systematic problem. At the end of the day, #StopAsianHate is not enough of a rallying cry. If you stand against Asain Hate, then you must stand against American Imperialism. If you are against Asian Hate, then you must be against the Global Superpower that needs the consent of its people to engage in war. Fight against Asian hate, and fight against American Imperialism.