No real accountability for racial, ethnic hate crimes in US: newspaper

LOS ANGELES -- Justice is still an illusion for the vast majority of victims of racial and ethnic hatred in the United States since there is no real accountability in its justice system, a US daily newspaper said on Monday.

In an opinion article published in the Sacramento Bee newspaper, the author Yousef Baig, assistant opinion editor of the media outlet, cited a recent case in Sacramento, capital city of California, in which Kelly Shum, owner of a family-owned company, did everything authorities said a victim is supposed to do after being targeted by a racist but nothing changed.

Baig, a Pakistani American, said since the COVID-19 pandemic started, anti-China rhetoric in the United States had made Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders targets of xenophobia.

According to the latest report by the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate, the country has seen roughly 11,000 hate incidents since the spring of 2021.

Baig believes that Asian Americans' outcries were heard by more people in the country, but politicians or people with money and power did not do enough work to make the meaningful change happen.

"Despite all the political statements and impassioned pleas from victims, there was little meaningful change in how the justice system holds perpetrators accountable. Nor does it seem to have changed the hearts and minds of bigots and xenophobes who hate people because of their ethnicity," Baig noted.

"Awareness means nothing unless it's followed with action," he added.