There isn’t even an attacker in the headline. The only human beings in the headline are the “authorities” and the “Asian American woman.” The evildoer disappears. There’s no attacker, only an “attack.” But if there are hate crime charges, then the human mind is all important. “Attack” stresses the outward action. “Hate” requires a hater. There is a shadow of a person in the word “hate,” the gesture at a mind.
But this person is depersonalized — depersonalized because he is black. If a white man had stomped on an old Asian-American lady, he’d get full recognition in the headline. Is that racist?
Yes, yes it is. And in fact, it’s part of a journalistic scheme for reporting crime that is designed to stir up hate, and in a particular direction.