CHICAGO — On a recent rainy Saturday afternoon, Chi Chan sat attentively in a pew of a Chinatown church he’s been a part of for some 15 years and listened to Chicago police Officer Jason Sollis give tips on public safety. Chan was there, he said, because crime has gotten so bad in the community that he is afraid to have his parents, who are in their 70s, come to Chinatown.
Across the country, COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for increased aggression toward Asian American communities after the coronavirus was first reported in China over two years ago. Chicago seemed to have far fewer reported hate crimes than other major cities, like Los Angeles or New York City, but residents in Chinatown say numbers don’t tell the full story.
“Anytime there’s a crisis and you can attribute it to a certain ethnic group, I think that’s where there can be an increase in crime,” Chan said. “It’s the natural flow of things. I’m not saying it’s right, but it seems to be normal. COVID happened, and it’s easier to blame a certain ethnic group for the whole world’s lockdown.”
