Anti-Asian hate crimes reported to police departments in 16 of the country’s largest cities surged by 149% in 2020, according to aforthcoming reportbythe Center for the Study of Hate and Extremismat California State University, San Bernardino.

The report cites steep increases in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Boston, although it didn’t note any increase in Chicago.

The researchers tied the increase in anti-Asian sentiment to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting a 7% drop in overall hate crimes in 2020 compared to anti-Asian hate crimes in 15 major U.S. cities.

In Chicago, the nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice is hostingbystander intervention seminarsto educate others on the spectrum of racial disrespect and abuse as well as how to effectively intervene in such situations.

We discuss the problem with Andy Kang, executive director of the nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago; professor Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino; and Tamer Abouzeid of CAIR-Chicago, a nonprofit Muslim civil rights organization.