Asian Americans make up more than a third of San Francisco’s population and according to a poll by the San Francisco Chronicle, they feel less safe in the city than other groups.
One of those people concerned about safety is San Francisco native Brian Szeto.
Szeto, who is Chinese and Filipino, said in the last couple of years, he's had people close to him find themselves in situations where they end up being verbally harassed about their ethnic background. He's also witnessed break-ins and robberies.
“I just kind of felt unsafe, obviously. But it’s just so normalized now. I just felt like it shouldn't be like this. I don’t remember this being this bad,” he said.
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Nearly 300,000 Asians and Pacific Islanders call San Francisco home, that's about a third of the city's population.
Hundreds of San Francisco’s AAPI community participated in a poll by the Chronicle, measuring how people feel about their city. 38% of Asian respondents said that safety and crime is their top concern.
Rev. Norman Fong, a longtime community leader and activist in Chinatown gave his reaction to the recent poll.
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“So, right now we can’t depend on the city because there’s too many different issues, homelessness like you said and other people see drugs as the problem and all that. So, Asian hate doesn’t get up there,” he said.
As for the future, the poll found only 14% of Asian respondents said the city would be better in two years and that the group has little faith in the city’s leaders.
The safety of the AAPI community could force changing demographics for the city.
More than 1,600 people were polled. The most pressing issue for other groups that identified as Black, White, Hispanic or mixed was homelessness.
