By Jun Nucum

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Philippine Consul General Neil Frank R. Ferrer threw the consulate’s commitment to undertake measures to prevent, if not totally stop, hate incidents and/or crimes particularly on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).

This was reiterated by Ferrer in a meeting with Dr. Russell Jeung, co-founder of the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate at the Sentro Rizal San Francisco. AAPI Heritage Month is celebrated in the U.S. every May.

In welcoming Jeung to the Consulate, Ferrer thanked the anti-hate group leader for his advocacy work and emphasized that the Consulate is ready to collaborate with Stop AAPI Hate to help prevent anti-Asian hate and foster understanding among communities.

“We condemn all forms of racism and harassment directed towards any particular race, ethnic group or community,” said Consul General Ferrer.

Dr. Jeung underscored that Stop AAPI Hate advocates for policy changes and works to prevent hate crimes and racism through education and civil rights expansion.

“We want to prevent hate before it becomes a crime,” Jeung said.

Stop AAPI Hate is a coalition that was formed amid rising xenophobia and racism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop AAPI also runs a reporting center and provides reports and related resources on its website: https://stopaapihate.org/.

Stop AAPI Hate tracks discrimination, violence, bullying and injustice against Asian Americans in the U.S., with the aim of advancing equity through education and advocating for policy changes to dismantle systemic racism.

In the latest Stop AAPI Hate’s report, Two Years and Thousands of Voices, makes clear that if you’re just following news stories, you’re not getting the full picture of what AAPIs are experiencing. Showcasing the nearly 11,500 hate incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate’s reporting center between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022.

The report also includes findings from a 2021 national survey, Stop AAPI Hate conducted in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence.

Key findings of Two Years and Thousands of Voices include:

  • Non-criminal incidents comprise the vast majority of the harmful hate incidents that AAPI community members experience.
  • Harassment is a major problem. Two in three (67%) of nearly 11,500 incidents involved harassment, such as verbal or written hate speech or inappropriate gestures.
  • AAPI individuals who are also female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, and/or elderly experience hate incidents that target them for more than one of their identities at once.
  • One in three (32%) parents who participated in the Stop AAPI Hate/Edelman Data & Intelligence survey were concerned about their child being a victim of anti-AAPI hate or discrimination in unsupervised spaces and on the way to school.
  • Hate happens everywhere — in both large cities and small towns, in AAPI enclaves and in places where AAPI communities are few and far between.