A Korean-American woman publishes hate crime booklet

Esther Lim, a second-generation Korean American living in Los Angeles, California, made headlines by creating a hate crime booklet for Asian-American seniors, who do not speak English well, and distributing them for free.

According to CNN on Sunday (local time), Lim published a 15-page long booklet, providing information on the definition of hate crimes, characteristics of hate crime offenders, what to do when facing an abuse or attack, and how to ask for help and report a crime, and translated it in seven languages including Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Spanish. She is distributing them for free.

“I noticed that a lot of the target victims were older generation Asians who couldn’t speak English well,” said Lim. “I wanted to make sure my parents, and the rest of the Asian community, knew how to make a report or what to do if they’re attacked.” She stressed that hate crimes must be reported in order to prevent recurrence of such incidents, adding hate crimes that went unreported will expose minority groups to more violence.

Lim first made the booklet in April last year, when COVID-19 was in full swing in the U.S. The number of hate crimes against Asians spiked in the U.S. as then-President Donald Trump called the virus “China virus.” The 31-year-old Korean American was concerned about her parent’s safety and started studying how to respond to hate crimes, including legal rights.

“It makes me angry, especially because community leaders don’t really do anything tangible about these hate crimes,” said Lim, highlighting the need for detailed guidance on what to do when individuals face hate crimes in their daily lives. Lim, who have been covering all the costs, is preparing to print the booklet in other languages, such as Arabic, with the help of donations through GoFundMe.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com