More than half of Asian New Yorkers were on the receiving end of race-related hate in 2023, and fewer than half of those people reported the incidents to anyone, according to a new survey published Thursday.
Fifty-four percent of respondents to the survey by The Asian American Foundation said they “experienced either insults, harassments, threats, or physical attacks in the past 12 months,” while 62% said they had witnessed another Asian New Yorker experiencing the same.
Additionally, one in five said they were physically attacked or assaulted, and 31% said they witnessed a physical attack or assault on a fellow Asian New Yorker.
The findings suggest that personal security and safety remain top of mind for Asian New Yorkers, even as some indicators suggest anti-Asian violence, along with overall crime, has declined from pandemic highs.
The group’s report also points to potentially widespread gaps in data collection by government agencies tasked with documenting acts of race-related incidents. The survey of 1,000 Asian New Yorkers was conducted in English, Chinese, Korean and Bengali.
Eugena Oh, a regional director for The Asian American Foundation, noted that 20% of respondents said they felt “ashamed or embarrassed to report” while 42% said they “did not want to bring attention” to themselves.
“When something like this happens to you, I think there’s a lot of internalization that happens where you may call into question what you could have done to protect yourself to avoid the situation,” Oh said.
She said these problems were compounded by other concerns, including “the cultural competency and linguistic capabilities of the police.” The report said of all the possible solutions sought by Asian New Yorkers, the most common was “better relations with police,” which 67% of respondents picked, while 62% said “mental health services.”
Previous studies and surveys have identified gaps in what Asian New Yorkers say they experience and what shows…
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