Written by Lucky Surya Jaya
In February 2021, in New York, a Chinese man was walking home near Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood when a stranger suddenly ran up behind him and plunged a knife into his back. For many Asian-Americans, the stabbing was horrifying but not surprising. This incident was just one of the Racial Violence cases against Asian Americans during the pandemic. The Anti Asian-Americans sentimental in the USA has been happening since the rise of the COVID-19 case; between March 19, 2020, and May 13, 2020, there have been 1,843 incident reports and the total number received as of June 3, 2020, is 2.066 cases. According to the news in BBC US & Canada that was published on March 1, 2021; the recently reported attacks are:
- An 84-year-old Thai immigrant in San Francisco, California, died last month after being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk.
- In Oakland, California, a 91-year-old senior was shoved to the pavement from behind. • An 89-year-old Chinese woman was slapped and set on fire by two people in Brooklyn, New York.
- A stranger on the New York subway slashed a 61-year-old Filipino American passenger’s face with a box cutter.
Notwithstanding anti- Asian-American violence cases occurring in the USA and understanding the gravity of the racial issue, that has caused much suffering dan safety issues towards Asian Americans, including Asians outside the USA. Thus, to understand more about the gist of the issue, the writer decided to classify the topics into “The Concept of Xenophobia and Racism Against Asian American” and “The International Law Perspective to The Racial Violence Issue” in which hoping to understand the background of the Asian Hate and whether the United States has complied to international law in preventing the issue from happening.
THE CONCEPT OF XENOPHOBIA AND RACISM AGAINST ASIAN AMERICAN
The word “xenophobia” has been used in various terms; however, despite the range of the usage, xenophobia itself was derived from the Greek words “xenos” and “phobos” which correspondingly mean strange or foreign and phobia. Nyamnjoh describes xenophobia as the intense dislike, hatred, or fear of others. It has been characterized as an attitudinal orientation of hostility against non-natives in a given population. Moreover, it has been seen as hostility towards strangers and all that is foreign.6 Given the terms of xenophobia as hatred towards foreign strangers, the writer believed that we must emphasize more the terms of “foreigner,” especially in Asian Hate occurring in western countries, especially the USA.
According to International Migration Law: Glossary on Migration, the term “foreigner” means “A person belonging to, or owing to an allegiance to, another State,” now complying with the Asian Hate Issues, The Asian Americans is someone who is seen as a “foreigner” who came to be “immigration” into their country, where the terms immigration itself is “A process by which non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement.”
Based on the facts, it is indeed true that Asian Americans have a history of coming to the USA as immigration during the 1970s and 1980s, emerging as the nation’s fastest-growing racial group and represent more than thirty different nationalities and ethnic groups. In 2000, the three largest Asian nationalities in the United States were Chinese, Filipinos, and Asian Indians.
However, the writer sees that the usage of the word “foreigner” as the situation occurred is not suitable in Asian Hate. As based on the fact, the majority of the Americans are also not natives but instead a once immigration (When the United States was created, established Native American tribes were generally considered semi-independent nations, as they generally lived in communities separate from white settlers, now the latter came to be the majority in the USA). Thus, the term “foreigner” could not be applied as justification for the Xenophobic in the Asian Hate issue since both parties, The Whites and The Asian American, are not natives.
The writer sees the issue of racism against Asian America that escalated by the COVID-19 pandemic, was caused by the xenophobic sentiment towards the Asian community as a “minority” in the United States, which was in accordance with the term “racism” itself that is
“The systemic subordination of members of targeted racial groups who have relatively little social power in the United States (Blacks, Latino/as, Native Americans, and Asians), by the members of the agent racial group who have relatively more social power (Whites). This subordination is supported by the actions of individuals, cultural norms and values, and the institutional structures and practices of society.”
In which The Asian Americans, especially Chinese, were targeted as a scapegoat for the cause of COVID-19. Thus, expanding into racial violence that was depicted from the cases above in the introduction.
THE INTERNATIONAL LAW PERSPECTIVE TO THE RACIAL VIOLENCE ISSUE
Racial violence has been an issue that international law has taken into serious consideration, thus resulting in many regulations and covenants about human rights regarding racial safety in countries where they became a minority;
This action was done to prevent the consequences of the racial violence that may result in race-related traumatic stress from being cast as the “enemy” and cause of the national health crisis. Further, the victims are also taxed to witness and experience verbal and physical assaults and feel unwelcome or endangered in their homeland. This psychological state predisposes them to develop acute stress or traumatic symptoms like anxiety, persistent fear, anger, guilt, or shame. These consequences do not align with the cause of Article 12(1) of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) stated that “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health.” Furthermore, the Racial Violence issue was prohibited by one of the oldest international human rights treaties; also, the principal treaty aimed at eliminating racial discrimination that is The International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Quoting Article 5 (b):
“to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted by government officials or by any individual group or institution.”
Thus, every state that has ratified The ICERD shall ensure the safety of its people by not disregarding the racial issue but to ensure they are free from any racial violence that may danger their life as also stated in Article 6(1) of ICCPR that “Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” Further, Under ICERD, all State Parties must submit reports on the legislative, judicial, administrative, and other measures they have adopted to give effect to ICERD. States issue their first report one year after joining ICERD and every two years thereafter. The reporting process allows the ICERD Committee to examine implementation and compliance. It also allows the U.N., other State Parties, and the international community to examine a State’s laws, to commend any progress made, and to recommend corrective action where necessary.
HAVE THE UNITED STATES COMPLIED TO THE INTERNATIONAL LAW?
As for how the international law has regarded the racial violence issue into many regulations, and the United States has ratified ICERD, then why the Asian Americans still fall victim to the many acts that infringe the ICERD itself.? The conclusion that could be brought up to answer it was because The United States itself displays a hollow act to protect its citizen from the racial violence that has been happening; this statement is proven by how The United States has routinely submitted its periodic reports late to the ICERD. The most recent reports were due in 2017, and the United States still has not delivered these reports. Also, The United States has failed to materially adhere to its ICERD obligations by (1) submitting reservations that nullify the treaty’s effect, (2) failing to enact implementing legislation, (3) preventing citizens from bringing claims under ICERD, and (4) failing to deliver timely reports of measures it has taken to address racial discrimination. These failures constitute a watered-down commitment, at best, toward ICERD’s goal of eliminating global racial discrimination, and it makes the United States a treaty party in name only and not in spirit.
CONCLUSION
All man has its liberty to live and not to be deprived of any disturbance; moreover, the disturbance that may cause the loss of the right to live, same goes with every Asian Americans must be protected from the racial violence that is still happening even when this article is being written (26/03/2021). Thus, with respect for the regulations that the United States has implemented, the writer believed racial violence can not be stopped only by the regulations that have been implemented, let alone the international law that the United States has yet to comply wholefully.
Racism has always existed in every part of every nation’s history that caused the minority to suffer not only its safety but its right to gain equal protection from the law, thus, seeing this, the conclusion that could be gained for the gist of this issue is that Racial Violence only can be prevented if the people itself understand the gravity of racism and band together to echo for the Racial Violence that has been happening to be stopped.