Asians have experienced many different types of racism that are swept under the rug. There are tons of problems that many non-Asians don’t see. While you may be just seeing the hate crimes against Asians, there’s still lots of things below the surface like the normalization of racism, the model minority myth, lack of representation, stereotypes, and so much more.

The recent hate crime towards Asians that occured in Atlanta was a tragedy and definitely not the first time an attack on Asians has occurred. These hate crimes have been spiking since the start of the virus. NBC News says, “while such crimes in 2020 decreased overall by seven percent, those targeting Asian people rose by nearly 150 percent.” While this may seem like a shock to many, when racist rhetoric like ‘Kung Flu’ or ‘China virus’ are used, it’s placing the blame on Asians for COVID-19. The media has barely mentioned the hate crime spike until this attack and it’s time to see more coverage. Asians have been getting increasingly assaulted and the numbers are just piling up.

Asians have been given two different narratives: being a model minority and being a contagious virus spreader. Both of these stereotypes are harmful to the Asian community. The model minority myth makes Asians seem like the perfect minority. For example, the stereotype of the straight-A students who became a doctor and has strict parents is a perfect example of this myth. It makes us seem like perfect, innocent people that can do no harm. This harmful narrative pushes expectations on Asian people that just aren’t realistic. The second narrative is a dangerous dog-eating, walking disease carrier that needs to be quarantined. Not to mention the lack of representation in TV, most of it being the high class, rich Asians or the “nerds” that do nothing but study and do math problems, both perpetrating the model minority myth.

Racism towards Asians is so normalized that most people don’t see any problem with it and don’t even notice how damaging it is. The model minority myth normalizes racism but also leads people to not take Asian racism seriously. It starts with microaggressions like “You have really good English for an Asian,” “Aren’t you supposed to be good at math,” “Where are you from?” “Where were you born?” and tons of other sayings. The slim eye is something that people use to make fun of Asians. Saying things like “You can’t see,” or “It must be so hard to see when you’re constantly squinting” are so blatantly racist and not just jokes. PBS says “‘the kinds of remarks, questions, or actions that are painful because they have to do with a person’s membership in a group that’s discriminated against or subject to stereotypes. And a key part of what makes them so disconcerting is that they happen casually, frequently, in everyday life.’” These little things that are repeated constantly slowly begin to dig into someone’s personal image of themselves.

Racism towards Asians is hidden under stereotypes, and disguised as jokes that ultimately lead to attacks on us. These forms of racism can only be stopped through learning and accepting  the fact that many of these “jokes” are just racism in disguise.

 For more on the Asian media bias check out Rajath Prabhakar’s article.