April 30. Declaring May Asian American-Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Gov. Roy Cooper said “diversity makes our communities, our economy and our quality of life stronger and better.”

An analysis released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism revealed that while hate crimes decreased overall by 7 percent in 2020, such crimes targeting Asian people rose 150 percent in 16 of America’s largest cities.

“The hate speech and violence that we have seen aimed at Asian Americans across the country is alarming, and I encourage North Carolinians to speak out against it until it ends,” Cooper said.

Stop AAPI Hate, a reporting center that tracks incidents of discrimination against Asian Americans, found that more than 3,200 incidents of AAPI hate were reported in 2020, though the actual number of incidents is believed to be higher.

National trends show that AAPI women reported incidents of hate 2.3 more times than men, and that most of these incidents occurred in business settings. Governor Cooper and his Administration are committed to ending the harassment and violence toward Asian Americans in our communities.