Is it true most asians were targeted and experience violence by black people during the coiv period

Checked on February 7, 2026
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Executive summary

The available reporting shows a clear rise in anti-Asian harassment, hate incidents and some violent attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does not support the claim that most Asians were targeted or that Black people were the primary perpetrators of that violence; studies and news coverage attribute rising anti-Asian animus broadly to xenophobia, online hate, political rhetoric and individuals of varied backgrounds [1] [2] [3] [4]. Concrete case studies—widely publicized assaults that galvanized public attention—do not establish a population-level pattern of targeting by one racial group, and the sources provided do not produce evidence that the majority of anti-Asian incidents were committed by Black perpetrators [5] [6] [7].

1. What the data and peer-reviewed research actually say about anti‑Asian violence

Scholarly research and synthesis during and after the pandemic document a marked increase in reported hate incidents against Asian Americans—Stop AAPI Hate and academic reviews cited by peer‑reviewed articles and public-health summaries conclude that anti‑Asian xenophobia and harassment surged and had measurable mental‑health impacts on Asian communities [1] [2] [8]. Those studies analyze trends like a 339% increase in reported race‑related violence against people of Asian appearance compared with an 11% rise in other hate crimes in the same period [1], and qualitative reporting documents verbal assaults, microaggressions, shunning and physical attacks linked to pandemic‑era rhetoric and online amplification [3] [7].

2. Perpetrator profiles: what the sources do — and do not — show

The sources assembled focus on the rise in anti‑Asian animus and its drivers—political rhetoric (e.g., “China virus”), social‑media amplification, and long‑standing stereotypes of foreignness—rather than producing a comprehensive, race‑of‑perpetrator breakdown that would support the claim that most attacks were committed by Black people [4] [2] [1]. High‑profile incidents cited in mainstream reporting include perpetrators of various ages and backgrounds; for instance, the San Francisco killing of Vicha Ratanapakdee became a symbol of pandemic‑era attacks on Asians but court reporting does not treat that case as proof of a single‑group pattern of perpetrators nationwide [6] [5]. None of the provided sources supply data showing that Black people were the predominant perpetrators of anti‑Asian incidents during COVID‑19.

3. Why claims that “most Asians were targeted by Black people” are misleading

Ascribing the surge in anti‑Asian incidents to a single perpetrator group conflates two separate findings: that anti‑Asian hate increased, and that individual violent incidents occurred—these do not imply a majority of Asian people were targeted, nor that any one racial group was chiefly responsible [1] [3]. Research emphasizes structural and cultural drivers—xenophobic rhetoric, historic orientalism, online radicalization—and frames violence as part of broader white‑supremacist and xenophobic dynamics, a context that scholars and advocacy groups explicitly link to a spectrum of perpetrators rather than a single race [9] [2].

4. Alternative viewpoints and limitations of the reporting

Some community narratives and media accounts emphasize specific local patterns or single events where perpetrators happened to be of a given race, and those narratives can fuel perceptions that a particular group is chiefly responsible; credible researchers, however, caution against extrapolating from isolated incidents to national patterns without representative crime‑data analysis [5] [6]. The material provided does not include a comprehensive, disaggregated national dataset of perpetrator race across all reported anti‑Asian incidents, so it is not possible from these sources alone to rule out local variations or to quantify precise proportions by perpetrator race [1] [3].

5. Bottom line: what can be stated with confidence

It is accurate and well‑documented that anti‑Asian harassment and hate crimes rose significantly during the COVID‑19 pandemic and that this surge harmed Asian communities’ wellbeing [1] [2] [3]; it is not supported by the provided reporting to state that most Asians were targeted by violence committed by Black people, and the sources instead point to xenophobic rhetoric, online hate, and diverse perpetrators as the explanatory context for the rise in incidents [4] [7] [9]. Where available, careful public‑policy responses and community advocacy have centered on prevention, reporting, and cross‑community solidarity rather than assigning blanket blame to any single racial group [1] [2].

Want to dive deeper?
What do national hate‑crime statistics show about the race of perpetrators in anti‑Asian incidents during 2020–2022?
How have political leaders’ pandemic‑era statements influenced anti‑Asian sentiment and violence, according to academic studies?
What are best practices for community responses that reduce intergroup tensions and protect vulnerable populations during public‑health crises?