By Leonard Chan and Philip Chin

The Covid-19 epidemic has done much to expose many of the fragile fault lines that already existed in America long before the disease originated. Not only has it highlighted longstanding racial and socioeconomic differences and grievances, but also just how weak many of the accepted bonds of American society today are. Among the ugliest manifestations has not only been violence against African Americans but also against Asian Americans.

All Asian American groups have suffered insults and attacks, not limited to just the Chinese American community. The sudden fall from being a cherished “model minority” to being targets of hate crimes shocked many Asian Americans out of their usual complacency.

When I watched a video of an elderly Chinese man get angrily pushed to the ground, I began to wonder if there was something more to this act than simple scapegoating. What could have possessed the perpetrator into taking such a violent act? What can we do to prevent it?

Much scholarly research and non-scholarly writings have already been done on the nature of hate crimes. We had an editorial as far back as November of 2008 when we pushed to have such crimes be relabeled as “Anti-Community Crimes.” This label more appropriately describes the terrorizing nature of these crimes to a community and to the bonds that hold different communities together.

Upon some further online research I found one often cited paper, titled “Hate Crimes” by sociologists Jack Levin and Jack McDevitt of Northeastern University. This is a fascinating short piece written for “The Encyclopedia of Peace, Violence, and Conflict.” The National Institute of Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the website verywellmind.com are just a few of the organizations that references this article.

The part of the paper that often gets cited is their attempt to categorize hate crime motives. Levin and McDevitt found that the hate crimes that they analyzed could fit into four basic categories – thrill-seeking, defensive, retaliatory, and mission.

Thrill hate crimes are committed by offenders that basically do it for the excitement. The offenders tend to be younger, often do their attacks in groups, search out their targets in the victims’ own communities, and do it for the approval of their friends who regard such attacks favorably. Interesting enough, the National Institute of Justice states that 66% of hate crimes fit in this category.

Defensive hate crimes are committed by offenders that see the attack as a defensive act against outsiders. From the perpetrators’ point of view, they are protecting their community, livelihood, or way of life that may seem threatened by the mere presence of members of some other group. Therefore they feel justified in their attack and have little remorse. Defensive offenders also tend to feel that they have the support of their community.

Retaliatory hate crimes are done in response to some perceived or real offense against the attacker and or his community. A hate crime committed against Muslims because of their perceived connection to terrorist is a prime example of this sort of hate crime. These perpetrators tend to act alone.

Mission hate crimes are done by perpetrators that see their attacks as a battle or war against a particular group of people. They perceive their fight as justified because they are making their world better by getting rid of out groups that they believe are a problem. These perpetrators tend to join hate groups. This is also the rarest of hate crimes committed. The National Institute of Justice states that less than 1% of hate crimes fit this description.

Based on these typologies, hate crimes committed against Asian Americans could possibly fit in any of these categories. The common perception is that we are being scapegoated for the pandemic and therefore, these hate crimes could fit the defensive and or the retaliatory categories. However, could these hate crimes be committed by thrill-seekers that have nothing better to do with their time?

Prior to the pandemic there were a number of cases of youths attacking unsuspecting victims with sucker punches. There is even a term coined for this type of crime, “knockout game.” A 2011 case of a knockout game resulted in the death of an Asian American named Hoang Nguyen.

Knowing the motives for hate crimes is useful, but it doesn’t completely explain how we got to the point where civility has broken down and our humanity became invisible.

What can we do to prevent hate crimes?

Without knowing the full answer to why and how we got to this state, we can turn to Levin and McDevitt’s research for possible responses to hate crimes. Here’s a summary of the responses that they highlight in their paper.

Perpetrators of hate crimes often believe that the community supports their actions or that they feel justified in taking it. Therefore community leaders need to speak out and strongly condemn anti-social acts. Leaders’ condemnations serve two purposes – one it informs the victims that they are not alone and that they are valued in the wider community; two it lets the perpetrators know that most people in the community do not support or accept their aberrant behavior.

Rallies and statements by leaders condemning these hate crimes have demonstrated that there are some people in power that have taken this first step. However, leaders need to continue these messages of condemnation and far more of them need to unequivocally get on board.

Many hate crimes are committed by youths that do not have a strong attachment to bigotry – they may still be persuaded and dissuaded from continuing their acts and offenses. It is therefore important to identify and apprehend youthful hate crime offenders and work to change their minds and show them the humanity in all of us.

Author and activist Christian Picciolini is a former hate group member that works on helping current member of hate movements to disengage (read his books “White American Youth: My Descent Into America's Most Violent Hate Movement -- And How I Got Out” and “Breaking Hate: Confronting the New Culture of Extremism”). Listen to his interview on the radio program Fresh Air – “A Former Neo-Nazi Explains Why Hate Drew Him In — And How He Got Out”).

The next response to hate crimes mentioned in the Levin and McDevitt paper states that local police who are tasked with protecting the public must “train to identify and effectively prosecute hate crimes.”

The 2020 protests and calls for police reforms emphasize the fact that local police must also constantly work to gain the trust of their community. Catching the correct perpetrators of crimes after their offense is a good start, but they also need to work on the prevention and protection front too. Having good relations with the local communities in which they serve greatly helps in this effort.

The last response to hate crimes mentioned in the Levin and McDevitt paper is similar to the first point about leaders speaking out against hate offenses. However, this response is directed to members of the community that the perpetrators come from. These community members need to come forth to assure the victims that they do not agree with the offenders and to assure victims that they are welcome in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and other places where they were harassed.  

This response is perhaps much more difficult than it sounds. With the fracturing of communities into subgroups that seldom journey out of the worlds of likeminded and culturally similar peoples, how do you get them to support other groups?

Although not explicitly stated as an action to prevent hate crimes, Levin and McDevitt's article mentioned that many hate crimes are perpetrated against individuals that are not specifically known to the assailant. Improving intergroup relations, understanding, knowledge, and support can be inferred as key to improving community harmony.

This is where community activist and organizations like AACP come in. Our role is to help educate the public. We may not be able to dissuade individuals or members of hate groups from committing offenses, but we can work to educate our own community on why it’s important to support and get to know people belonging to other groups. By standing together, we’re better prepared to handle whatever hardships confront us, including divisive hate.

Part 2 of this article will explore the interconnection of our communities throughout American history. Getting to know our shared history is a good step towards providing us with the background needed to feel empathic with others. Empathy is the glue that binds our society.