U.S. major cities are witnessing a "historic surge" in anti-Asian hate crimes amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, a new U.S. report said last week.
Anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police in 16 large U.S. cities and counties has increased by 164 percent in the first quarter of 2021 over the same period of 2020, from 36 to 95, according to the report titled "Report to the Nation: Anti-Asian Prejudice and Hate Crime" from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB).
The rise in anti-Asian hate crimes may get worse as COVID-19 restrictions lift, Brian Levin, author of the report and a professor of criminal justice, said to U.S. media outlet USA TODAY, adding that the surge requires "immediate action by civic leaders, educators and policymakers and law enforcement particularly in the area of outreach."
CSUSB, according to its official website, is "a nonpartisan research and policy center" that examines fields including violence and bigotry.
