Why are Asian Americans under attack?

The killing of eight people at a number of massage parlors in Atlanta this week has brought fears that the crimes may have targeted Asian Americans. Six of the people killed were of Asian descent. Although it is not yet clear whether there was a racial motivation in the shootings, they come against a backdrop of a sharp rise in violent attacks against Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic. An elderly Thai immigrant died after being shoved to the ground, a Filipino-American had his face slashed on the subway and a Chinese woman was slapped and then set on fire. These are just some of the thousands of cases reported in the US in recent months. Advocates and activists say they are hate crimes, and often linked to political rhetoric that blames Asian people for the spread of Covid-19. They point to the language used during last year’s election campaign by Donald Trump, who used terms such as the “China virus” and “kung flu”. During his first prime-time address to the nation last week, President Joe Biden denounced the attacks as un-American and urged federal agencies to fight “a resurgence in xenophobia”. Ritula Shah and a panel of expert guests as they discuss the causes of these attacks, who is carrying them out and what should be done about them.