The non-profit organization Stop AAPI Hate is working to bring awareness to the rise in attacks against Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. The group just released data from thousands of incidents that were reported to the group throughout the United States last year. Now the group is calling on all Americans to join efforts to end discrimination against AAPI people, said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of the organization.
With President Donald Trump publicly blaming China for the spread of COVID-19, The non-profit reporting center was founded in 2020 as reports of crimes against Asian people began to increase. According to the data, nearly 3,800 incidents were reported to the group between March 2020 and February 2021, and Choi alleged that even this number is a vast misrepresentation of the entire picture.
"We’ve pretty much said from the very beginning that we know that people are underreporting on our site, and there’s definitely been an historic underreporting to law enforcement and government agencies, which is one of the reasons we started this reporting center," she said.
Though it's still too early to compare the entirety of 2020's stats to just two months of data from this year, Choi said incidents aren’t getting less intense. They are simply being reported less frequently for a myriad of reasons. She also noted that the incidents aren’t just limited to Asians being subjected to verbal and physical assaults on the streets, but they're "pervasive and systemic" and not all "hate crimes." According to the report, more than 35 percent of reports of discrimination happened at the site of businesses.
For Asian women, the issue has been even more prevalent as women, in general, tend to experience more harassment than men, and Choi said a short-term goal is to spread awareness about the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center so it has more data that would help establish plans to bring an end to these kinds of attacks.
"It’s very concerning that this is happening from across the country where we see reports from all 50 states including DC. We’re seeing, again, that these types of acts are really penetrating everywhere," she said.
Right now, the center accepts reports in 12 different languages.
The group also provides an outlet for people that do not identify as Asian to pitch in and use their reporting tool as well.
"We also have resources for people who are concerned about being directly targeted and also for those who witness individuals being targeted, not just Asians, but other groups that are being targeted because of what they look like, their gender — and how to do that safely," Choi said.
Emmanuel Macron staves off the far right challenger Marine Le Pen in France, conservative lawmakers find themselves embroiled in varying controversies, and pickleball is hotter than ever in the U.S.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 25, 2022, with Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Austin visiting Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron is reelected as president of France, Twitter is talking to Elon Musk about his purchase bid, and more.
Between Bells EP Conor White recaps some of the biggest stories of the week, and teaches Baker Machado and Azia Celestino a thing or two at the same time. It's This Week in Trivia!
An increasing number of countries are recognizing "Rights of Nature", a legal movement that says ecosystems and species have basic rights to exist and flourish. Grant Wilson, executive director at Earth Law Center joins Cheddar News to explain what the movement is aiming to achieve.
The saga surrounding Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter has made its way to Washington, DC. A group of 18 House Republicans are calling on the social media platform's board to preserve all records and documents related to the company's response to the offer from the Tesla CEO. Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, joined Closing Bell to discuss. "This is a long term play, but it's just a shot across the bow by congressional Republicans, who probably will end up taking the House, that they're going to be tough on Big Tech and they're going use Musk's bid for twitter to take it private, so that he can get the platform to be open source and remove its censorship."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill dissolving Walt Disney World’s private government after the entertainment giant criticized a measure that critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Removing carbon from our atmosphere has become a goal for scientists and entrepreneurs around the world, and while many have begun to develop promising technology solutions, a few big names in tech, including Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify, Meta and McKinsey, are committing nearly $1 billion dollars to fund carbon removal technology through 2030 through a new initiative called Frontier, an advanced market commitment to incentive following through on development. Hannah Bebbington, the head of strategy for Frontier, joined Cheddar News to discuss. "What Frontier aims to do is help get this market on track by sending that strong demand signal such that we can scale up capacity really significantly in the next couple of years," she said.
Autumn Peltier, an indigenous water activist, joined Cheddar News to talk about the lack of access to clean water among indigenous communities in Canada. “I say the government to hold themselves accountable for the promises that they make because Canada and indigenous people have a long history of broken promises and they still continue to this day to keep breaking promises with the nation's people," she said. "Less talk and more action is very much expected from me."
Sustainability Concierge Friday Apaliski joins Cheddar Climate Celebrates Earth Day, where she shares tips for how homeowners can go green without breaking the bank. She also provides everyday ways and climate hacks to make the planet a cleaner place.
