By Jason Cruz
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
A survey conducted by The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) confirmed what many in the AAPI community in the Greater Seattle area realize—public safety and racialized attacks are a major problem.
The report surveyed 1,000 Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) in Western Washington. Almost 2 in 5 AANHPI residents had been the victim of an anti-Asian incident in the past 12 months. Of those people that were victims, 20% were physically attacked.
The survey was commissioned by TAAF and the data was collected between May 30 and June 10, 2024. It is the second safety survey conducted by TAAF after New York City.
Community leaders attended an event in Little Saigon on Sept. 23 to discuss the results. Members of organizations supporting the Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Pacific Islander communities were in attendance.
“Anti-Asian hate persists and we are deeply concerned by just how many in our community are affected,” said TAAF CEO Norman Chen. “Our aim is to better understand our current safety concerns and experiences of AANHPI in Seattle and use that data to identify resources that will help the community.”
The findings highlighted that anti-Asian views have grown since the pandemic.
The study looked at why people did not report hate incidents. Participants cited reluctance to draw attention to themselves as the main barrier. Additionally, some victims and witnesses expressed uncertainty about how to properly report such incidents.
Also alarming, 59% of ANNHPIs surveyed in Seattle felt unsafe in public places because of their race or ethnicity. Public transit was the place of most concern from those that were polled. Agness Navarro, the executive director of the Filipino Community of Seattle, stated that they have brought in a self-defense instructor so that the elderly men and women would learn how to use an umbrella or cane as a weapon if needed.
The study included several recommendations which would help with addressing the issues found in the survey. This includes better relations with the police, increased resources allocation, investment in city infrastructure, increased street activity, and increased training on hate incident reporting. A number of the recommendations call for more presence in areas inhabited by AANHPI elderly. Notably there are certain areas of the Chinatown-International District which are subject to individuals that are in need of medical or mental health providers. A portion of the survey suggests that there is a need for access to legal and mental health services.
“They’ve put data on things that we’ve known as members of this community for a long time,” said state Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos. “The data is not surprising, but it’s good to have the numbers associated with it because I saw myself in these numbers.” She noted the numbers when identifying 2 out of 5 Asian Americans have experienced an attack, and 3 out of 5 people relying on public transportation are afraid of taking it.
State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos offering remarks on the Seattle Safety Study (Photo by Jason Cruz)
Santos supported the recommendations of the study as well as bringing together the generational divide. “Our community culture focuses on intergenerational connections. It is so important that we promote elder/youth programming.”
Michael Itti, the executive director of the Chinese Information and Service Center (CISC), supports the findings.
“The safety study highlights a lot of vital data to make sure that policy makers know the safety concerns of our Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community, especially at a time when people are feeling the elevated concerns of anti-Asian hate which translates into not going out (into the community).”
CISC Executive Director Michael Itti (Photo by Jason Cruz)
CISC encourages the community to report any incidents which may be deemed hate crimes to the supporting organizations.
“Many reasons why people might decide not to report,” said Itti. “A lot of these organizations play a role in connecting our communities and to talk about how we can help them document what happened.”
“People may want to just talk to somebody who cares deeply about what happened to them and know what their options are.”
“It’s really critical that our decision makers and our public agencies have training on how to support a diverse population,” Itti added that they are encouraging emergency services such as 911 to recognize if an individual may need an interpreter.”
Jason can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.