Anti-South Asian hate surging ahead of US elections: Report

The sudden ascendance of two South Asian figures in US politics — Kamala Harris and Usha Vance — coincides with the surge of anti-South Asian hate online and offline ahead of the 2024 US elections, according to a new report.

Anti-South Asian slurs spiked in August 2024 amid the political ascendance of Harris as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee and Usha Vance, the wife of JD Vance, the 2024 Republican nominee for Vice President, according to the report “Empowered/Imperiled: The Rise of South Asian Representation and Anti-South Asian Racism.”

Stop AAPI Hate’s first report focusing on a single AA/PI subgroup, captures the dual rise of South Asian political representation and anti-South Asian hate ahead of the 2024 US elections, by combining data insights on the scale and impact of anti-South Asian hate and new research on the growth of anti-South Asian hate in extremist online spaces.

Stop AAPI Hate report shows pervasive hate crimes against AA/PIs (September 26, 2024)

Summer 2024 represented a huge milestone for South Asian political representation, the report notes. On July 17, Usha Vance took center stage at the Republican National Convention after her husband joined Donald Trump on the Republican ticket for US President. Within a couple of weeks, President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and Vice President Kamala Harris was named the Democratic nominee.

With the sudden ascendance of Vance and Harris — both second-generation Indian Americans — South Asian America was thrust into the political spotlight, the report noted.This historic moment was also an inflection point, coinciding with a dramatic spike in anti-South Asian hate in August 2024 that will continue to have significant implications for Asian Americans long after the last votes of this election season are counted, according to the report.

This report combines new data insights from NORC at the University of Chicago on the scale and impact of anti-South Asian hate; first-hand accounts of anti-South Asian hate from the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center; and new research from Moonshot on the growth of anti-South Asian hate in monitored Domestic Violent Extremist (DVE) online communities to capture the dual rise of South Asian political representation and anti-South Asian hate ahead of the 2024 US  elections.

Altogether, “Empowered/Imperiled” paints a clear picture of how the rise of South Asian political representation collides with acts of hate on the internet and on the ground — and who gets hurt in the process.

Key findings

Asian Americans — most of all South Asian Americans — are facing a notable increase in online hate ahead of the 2024 elections.

Even as South Asian Americans like Harris take the political spotlight, South Asian communities must navigate racism and xenophobia, religious discrimination, political scapegoating, and more.

This fits into a longer-term pattern of hate and discrimination targeting South Asian communities that has brought harm to generations of people.

The consequences for South Asian communities are serious, including mental health issues, financial stress, and changes to their daily routines to avoid racism.

At the same time, anti-South Asian hate is also a powerful driver of civic engagement and political activation. Even in the face of ongoing hate and discrimination, South Asian people are responding to racism with political resistance by signing petitions, contributing to racial justice organizations, and resisting racism in their local communities.

Over the past eighteen months (January 2023 through August 2024), Asian Americans in the United States have faced a steady rise of anti-Asian hate, according to a Moonshot analysis of monitored DVE online communities on 4chan, Gab, and X, among other channels.

Anti-South Asian slurs accounted for the highest volume of anti-Asian terms in extremist online communities, and anti-South Asian slurs doubled from around 23,000 in January 2023 to over 46,000 in August 2024.

There was also a distinct rise of online threats of anti-Asian violence. In August 2024, there were 973 threats of anti-Asian violence, according to Moonshot data — representing a 17% increase from the six month baseline. Of these threats, 75% were directed at South Asian communities.

READ: Half of AAPIs experienced race-based hate in 2023: Survey (May 1, 2024)

Research has shown a connection between online anti-Asian sentiment and on-the-ground anti-Asian hate acts, according to the report which finds significant commonalities between the anti-South Asian language used online and that used in hate act reports submitted to the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center.

In both online and offline contexts, It observed anti-South Asian slurs and stereotypes like “India is a slimy country,” “Go back to where you came from,” “terrorist,” and “dirty Indians.” And in both online and offline contexts, the report observed references to Kamala Harris and Usha Vance in the context of anti-South Asian hate.

South Asian people in the US today are facing staggering levels of institutional and interpersonal hate, according to the report. The rise of anti-South Asian hate online fits into a larger trend of anti-South Asian hate. Stop AAPI Hate’s national-representative survey with NORC finds 43% of South Asians adults experienced a hate act due to their race, ethnicity, or nationality in 2023.

Of South Asian adults who said they experienced hate, 93% experienced harassment — making it the most common form of hate. Institutional discrimination is also a serious problem, affecting 40% of South Asian adults who have experienced an act of hate.

In fact, in an earlier research report from Stop AAPI Hate/NORC in 2023, 48% of South Asian adults said they have experienced discrimination based on a protected characteristic (e.g., race, religion) at least once in their lifetimes.

However, even in the face of ongoing hate — both online and offline – the report citing data suggests that South Asian people are not resigning to racism, but rising against it. The vast majority of South Asian adults feel concerned about the US racial climate and are motivated to get involved in efforts to resist and reduce racism. That includes signing petitions, calling their elected officials, and donating to local organizations.

And political momentum is on their side, the report suggests noting, Indian Americans have surpassed Chinese Americans as the largest Asian-alone ethnic group — and boast the highest number of eligible voters.

Considering the recent growth of South Asian representation in local, state, and federal politics, South Asian voters are headed into the 2024 elections with enormous political influence.

Anti-South Asian hate in the US has gone overlooked and underrecognized for centuries — a fact that is responsible for generations of trauma and hardship within and across South Asian communities.

Today, South Asian people are facing a new wave of racism, xenophobia, and religious discrimination online, amid the rise of South Asian political representation ahead of the 2024 elections, according to the report.

“And it will not end after Election Day,” the report suggests. “In fact, our communities are bracing ourselves for an ongoing rise of anti-South Asian racism and xenophobia stemming from local, state, and federal election results, anti-immigrant political rhetoric, and the general rise of Islamophobia amid the violence and devastation in the Middle East.”

Besides sounding the alarm about the scale and impact of anti-South Asian hate both online and offline, the report calls on political leaders to mobilize against the racism and discrimination that South Asian communities have faced for far too long “to keep history from repeating itself.”