NATION
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021
Poll: More Americans believe anti-Asian hate on the rise
By Terry Tang and
Hannah Fingerhut
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A ma-
jority of Americans across ra-
cial and ethnic groups believe
discrimination has worsened
in the last year against Asian
Americans, who became the
target of attacks after being
unfairly blamed for the coro-
navirus pandemic.
A poll from The Associated
Press-NORC Center for Pub-
lic Affairs Research fi nds 60%
of Americans say discrimina-
tion against Asian Americans
has swelled compared with
a year ago, including 71%
of Asian Americans, 66%
of Black Americans, 59% of
white Americans and 55% of
Hispanic Americans.
Nearly half of Americans
believe Asian Americans
encounter “a great deal” or
“quite a lot” of discrimination
in the U.S. today. The poll also
fi nds about 6 in 10 Americans
say racism in the U.S. in gen-
eral is a “very” or “extremely”
serious problem. And a
majority of Asian Americans
say they feel unsafe in public
because of their race.
Susan Lee, of Sacramento,
California, said friends initi-
ated conversations with her
about racism as random at-
tacks on Asians became more
frequent, but the 72-year-old
Chinese American noted
a key difference between
friends who were Asian and
non-Asian.
“My non-Asian friends are
probably more astonished
that this is occurring,” Lee
Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times-TNS
A member of the Thai-American community makes his message known at a rally
against Asian hate crimes in Thai Town in Los Angeles on April 8, 2021. They also gath-
ered to show solidarity for the AAPI community. Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch
O’Farrell and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer spoke against anti-Asian senti-
ment at the rally.
said. “I think Chinese or
‘Asians’ have always been
looked at as a positive asset.
I think they are puzzled by
that situation.”
Barbara Canchola, 76, of El
Paso, Texas, said she would
have answered “not at all” if
she had been asked pre-
pandemic if Asian Americans
face racism. Canchola, who
identifi es as Hispanic, said
she associated anti-Asian
discrimination as something
way in the past like Japanese
American internment camps
during World War II.
“I really wouldn’t think
they are facing any kind of
discrimination because I hap-
pen to think they’re very well
educated — most of them
— and they don’t face that
much scrutiny,” Canchola
said. “However, ever since the
pandemic began and it was a
labeled a ‘China thing,’ that’s
where it all began.”
She attributes her new
outlook to all the television
coverage “where the people
are being assaulted on the
street out of the blue.”
Renee Tajima-Pena, an
Asian American Studies
professor at the University
of California, Los Angeles
and co-producer of the PBS
docuseries “Asian Americans,”
isn’t surprised some people
have never thought of Asian
Americans as victims. The
BALLOTS
Drazan also said the U.S. Postal
Service has shifted most of its mail
Continued from Page 5A
processing to Portland in the two
“It creates another level of com-
decades since the 2001 vote.
plexity in a system that is prob-
She also questioned a provision
lematic,” House Republican Leader that allows a ballot to be counted
Christine Drazan of Canby said. “A even if the postmark is unclear.
deadline is a deadline is a deadline.”
Rayfi eld said that when a
dominant narrative has
always been they are suc-
cessful, don’t speak up and,
therefore, encounter little
racism.
“The model minority myth
is such a drug for Americans,”
Tajima-Pena said.
Between March 2020
and this past March, more
than 6,600 anti-Asian hate
incidents have been docu-
mented by Stop AAPI Hate, a
national reporting center. The
encounters range from verbal
harassment to attacks that
ended fatally, including the
March 16 Atlanta-area shoot-
ings that killed six Asian
women.
The Center for the Study
voter signs the return envelope
containing a ballot — a signature
is required for elections offi cials to
match it with a signature on fi le
— it will include a statement that
the ballot was mailed on or before
election day. If a voter does other-
wise, it is considered perjury, a Class
of Hate & Extremism at
California State University,
San Bernardino, found that
Asian-targeted hate crimes
in the largest U.S. cities rose
145% in 2020 compared
with 2019, even though hate
crimes overall declined 6%. In
the fi rst quarter of this year,
anti-Asian crimes reported to
police in 16 major cities and
counties jumped 164% from
the same time period last
year.
“That’s why people under-
stand now the violence Asian
Americans face,” Tajima-Pena
said. “People couldn’t avoid it
in the press or the national
conversation. People are
gathering data and talking
about it.”
Fifty-seven percent of
Asian Americans say they
feel unsafe in public “often” or
“sometimes” because of their
race, similar to the share of
Black Americans and higher
than the share of Hispanic
or white Americans. Because
the survey was conducted
in English and Spanish, it is
representative of the English-
speaking Asian American
population but may not
include those who primarily
speak a language other than
English.
Glendon Yuri-Sweetland,
34, of Brewer, Maine, blames
former President Donald
Trump for the increased
discrimination against Asian
Americans. Trump’s constant
referrals to COVID-19 as the
“Chinese virus” and other rac-
ist terms are still embedded
in a lot of minds, he said.
C felony punishable by a maximum
fi ne of $125,000 and fi ve years in
prison.
Secretary of State Shemia Fagan,
the state’s chief elections offi cer, en-
dorsed an election-day deadline in
testimony to the House Rules Com-
mittee on Feb. 11. She said it was
“As my husband would say,
‘It’s only stirring the pot,’”
Yuri-Sweetland said. “But I
think that even just having
that platform for a while, our
former president probably
has had enough exposure to
get his message out.”
Close to half of Americans
are “very” or “extremely”
concerned that incidents
of violence targeting Asian
Americans have increased
because of the COVID-19
pandemic, according to the
poll, including about two-
thirds of Asian Americans.
President Joe Biden last
week signed the COVID-19
Hate Crimes Act. The
legislation will put a Justice
Department offi cial in charge
of a review of anti-Asian hate
crimes and will allot federal
grants for law enforcement
training and hate crime
hotlines.
Tajima-Pena believes the
visibility of Asian Americans
outside of their communities
has fundamentally changed
in the past year and it isn’t
going to fade. And videos like
the one showing the brutal
beating of a Filipino Ameri-
can woman in New York City
as three people stood by and
watched have undoubtedly
contributed to the greater
awareness.
“I think the narrative is
shifting,” Tajima-Pena said.
“It’s like 2020 was really the
year where our response was
‘Stop AAPI hate’. ... The fl ip
side of it is in 2021, people
are really looking at solutions
and solidarity.”
time to end public confusion about
when ballots should be mailed in
time for county elections offi cials to
receive them.
The bill also would change an
optional election date from the third
Tuesday in September to the fourth
Tuesday in August.
Baker County
CHURCH
DIRECTORY
Sunday Worship
First Service 8:30 am
2nd Service & Sunday School
 am
Jr. High & High School Youth
Tues 6:30 pm
Youth Pastor Silas Moe
675 Hwy 7, Baker City • 541-523-5425
FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
EARLY WORSHIP
GATHERING
8:30 AM
SECOND WORSHIP
GATHERING
10:30 AM
3720 Birch St, Baker City
541-523-4233
Third & Broadway
541-523-3891
Sunday Worship Service
10:30 am
Sundays
10 AM Worship Service
9 AM Sunday School
Thursdays
1995 4th Street, Baker City
541-523-5201
5:30 - 6 PM
Free Community Dinner
6:15 - 8 PM
firstpresbaker.blogspot.com
Celebrate Recovery
SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST
CHURCH
SAINT
ALPHONSUS
HOSPITAL CHAPEL
Saturday Worship
11:00 am
Open to all patients,
family and friends for
reflection and prayer.
www.bakercitysda.com
17th & Pocahontas, Baker City
541-523-4913
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE CHURCH
Elkhorn Baptist
Church
Sunday Service
11:00 am
Sunday School 10 am
Morning Worship 11 am
Evening Worship 6 pm
Discovery Kids Worship
: pm
3520 Birch St, Baker City
541-523-4332
www.ChristianScience.com
3rd & Washington, Baker City
541-523-5911
bakercalvarybaptist.com
St. Stephen’s
Episcopal
Pastor Troy Teeter
Services at 9 am
1st & 3rd Sundays, Holy Eucharist
2nd & 4th Sundays, Morning Prayer
5th Sunday, Morning Prayer
1250 Hughes Lane, Baker City
(Corner of Cedar & Hughes)
541-523-3533
www.bakernaz.com
2177 First Street • Baker City
Entrance on 1st Street
Corner Church & First Streets
541-523-4812
Sunday Worship 9:00 ඉඕ & 10:30 ඉඕ
St. Alphonsus Hospital in
Baker City
ST. BRIGID’S IN THE
PINES COMMUNITY
CHURCH
11:30 a.m. Services
1st & 3rd Sunday
Holy Eucharist
East Auburn Street, Sumpter
541-523-4812
A Mission of St. Stephen's Episcopal
Church in Baker City
St. Francis De
Sales Cathedral
Daily Masses:
M, T, Th, F 9 am
Day Chapel in Cathedral
Wed Daily Mass 9 am
at St. Alphonsus Chapel
Sat 8 am at Day Chapel
Baker City Saturday Mass 6 pm
Baker City Sunday Mass 9:30 am
St. Therese in Halfway 2 pm Sat
St. Anthony's in North Powder
11:30 Sun
541-523-4521
Corner of First & Church, Baker City
Established
1904
FIRST
LUTHERAN
CHURCH
Service at 11 am
September through the
last Sunday of May
1734 Third Street, Baker City
541-523-3922
firstlutheranbakercity@gmail.com
AGAPE
CHRISTIAN
CENTER
Sunday Services
10:00 am & 6:30 pm
South Highway 7,
Baker City
541-523-6586
The church directory is published once monthly. Information for this directory is provided by participating churches, please call 541-523-3673 for more information.
Thank you to the participating churches and these sponsors:
Cliff’s Saws & Cycles
Whelan Electric, Inc.
523-5756 • CCB 103032
2619 Tenth • 523-2412
1950 Place • 523-4300
1500 Dewey • 523-3677