I fear for Asian communities in Brazil

As anti-Asian hate crimes rise in the Western world, can Brazil avoid joining the trend?

The March 16 Atlanta spa shootings, in which eight people including six Asian women were killed by a white assailant, brought renewed attention to the rise in anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes in the United States and beyond. Indeed, since the emergence of COVID-19, East and Southeast Asian communities in the US, United Kingdom and continental Europe have been facing a new wave of hate, discrimination and abuse. Former US President Donald Trump tried to blame the pandemic on China, not only to gain leverage against a powerful rival but also to avoid being criticised for his failure to respond to this global public health emergency efficiently. As he repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” and “Kung-flu”, politicians and influential public figures in other countries swiftly adopted his inflammatory anti-China rhetoric. This coupled with existing anti-Asian prejudices, resulted in Asians becoming a primary target of white supremacist and racist violence in many countries. For example, in the first year of the pandemic, nearly 3,800 anti-Asian hate crimes have been recorded in the US, and Britain’s East and Southeast Asian communities have seen a 300 percent increase in hate crimes.