(Jewish Group) Jews know the frustration: We must ensure that Asian Americans are heard.

[Behind the Aegis]

Jews know the frustration of rising anxieties falling on deaf ears. We must ensure that Asian Americans are heard.

One year ago, we addressed Jewish concerns and response to the violence and xenophobia directed at Asian Americans at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Our organization, the American Jewish Committee, all too familiar with discrimination and violence directed at our community and dedicated to the protection of all minorities, has long recognized that conspiracy theories and rhetoric often lead to deadly violence.
---snip--

In AJC’s 2020 report on the State of Antisemitism in America, we found a stark contrast in perceptions of the threat of anti-Semitism by Jewish and non-Jewish Americans: 88% of American Jews saw anti-Semitism as a problem in the U.S. today, as opposed to 62% of the general public. And 82% of American Jews saw anti-Semitism increasing, whereas only 43% of the general public agreed with that perception. Most alarmingly, the poll findings indicated that Jews themselves were not trusted as being legitimate arbiters of what is anti-Semitic, but that others are better equipped to define anti-Semitic rhetoric, motivation and acts.

Asian Americans are experiencing a similar phenomenon.

Many non-Asian commentators downplay or blatantly deny the xenophobia and racism and ensuing dangers to the Asian-American community. A dismissive attitude prevails, with claims of discrimination by Asian Americans, who, like Jews, have been viewed as a “model minority” thriving in this country, are frequently diminished or ignored, if not ridiculed.

American Jews know the frustration of rising anxieties falling on deaf ears. We must ensure that Asian Americans are heard, respected and supported. With thousands of discriminatory acts on record, including the last months’ multiple reports of violence against Asian Americans across the country, some caught on camera, there can be no denying that anti-Asian rhetoric and violence is a real and dangerous problem.

more...