Natalie Masuoka, a political science and Asian American studies associate professor, said that while there was generally a rise in anti-Asian bias over the course of 2020, it is still difficult to document and track the existence of patterns of hate crimes.

“We don’t necessarily have a straightforward way of recording a hate crime occurring,” Masuoka said. “What we do know is that a lot of people, women and people of color, when they are marginalized they feel more embarrassed than anything and they don’t necessarily want to report.”