For more than a year, Asian Americans across the country have faced an alarming deluge of racist attacks, and it shows no signs of abating.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic transformed every facet of American life a year ago, Asian American communities were already seeing the effects of the virus, which was first detected in China and began to spread in January 2020.

By then, Asian Americans and Pacific Islander individuals had started to experience racist harassment and attacks, such as being shunned, spit upon and denied services. Asian-owned businesses saw a precipitous drop in revenue and patronage .

Last March, several AAPI advocacy organizations and scholars formed a group called Stop AAPI Hate to create a database of reports of these incidents . As of Feb. 28, the group had received a staggering 3,795 reports of racist incidents against AAPIs, according to data released Tuesday. That includes 503 incidents in 2021. The last few weeks have brought a wave of high-profile incidents, including several violent assaults of Asian American elders that resulted in deaths .

The incident reports come from respondents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The data is likely an undercount because the incidents are self-reported.

While the current wave of racism is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, its one chapter of a long history of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans. In the 19th century, Asian immigrants to the U.S. were deemed the yellow peril and branded as filthy disease carriers not unlike the racist rhetoric and tropes fueling the current wave. In addition, Asian American individuals are often targeted because of the model minority myth, which reinforces the racist stereotype and false impression that AAPIs are silent and invisible and wont speak up or fight back.

Stop AAPI Hates findings are consistent with other reports that have shown a sharp uptick in racist incidents against Asian Americans in the last year. Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans rose 150% in Americas largest cities last year , even as overall hate crimes decreased, according to an analysis of police records by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, released earlier this month.