South-Asian Americans face surge in online hate: Reports
The report states that the increasing hate towards the South Asian community began with the rise in political representation of Asians during the 2023 and 2024 elections.
A report released by a nonprofit group Stop AAPI Hate reveals that online hate against Americans of South Asian descent has increased frequently in 2023 and 2024, coinciding with the rise of politicians from that community to prominent positions.
The rise in online hate is linked to the prominence of current Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Indian descent, as well as former Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy. Also, the Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, is also Indian American.
Harris, who is facing Republican candidate Donald Trump in the ongoing U.S election is not far from this criticism. As the US is approaching the presidential election, there has been a steady rise in anti-Asian hate in extremist online spaces from January 2023 to August 2024 says, the report.
The nonprofit group attributes the rising criticism to a “toxic political climate in which an increasing number of leaders and far-right extremist voices continue to spread bigoted political rhetoric and disinformation.”
Stop AAPI Hate stated that online hate and threats of violence towards Asian communities peaked after Kamala Harris was declared the presidential nominee of the Democratic National Convention and Usha Vance appeared at the Republican National Convention.
The report states that the increasing hate towards the South Asian community began with the rise in political representation of Asians during the 2023 and 2024 elections.
It further says, among Asian American subgroups, South Asian communities face the highest volume of criticism online with 60% of slurs directed at them in that period,
Last year, anti-South Asian slurs in extremist online spaces doubled from about 23,000 to over 46,000, peaking in August 2024. There are nearly 5.4 million people of South Asian descent in the United States, including those with roots in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
As per the research of Stop AAPI Hate, the anti-Asian political rhetoric from leaders and prominent figures fuels acts of hate, both online and offline. They recently found statements reflecting the xenophobic and racist rhetoric, such as “go back to where you came from” and claims that Indian people are “taking over.”
One of the reports of Stop AAPI Hate reveals that a significant portion of South Asian adults around 43% experienced hate in 2023. It suggests that the number may have increased in 2024 due to the current political climate and backlash against growing South Asian political representation.
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