San Francisco’s Civic Center Plaza was visited by a large group of residents on Sunday, criticizing the rise of heinous attacks and violence against Asian Americans in the Bay Area and in the United States.
The crowd gathered together, joined by the family of an 84-year-old resident who lost his life after being brutally pushed down into the pavement. A similar protest was held in Oakland’s Chinatown on Saturday after residents in the area experienced a massive surge of violent attacks.
Asian American Crimes
“When one of us is attacked in this city, we are all less safe,” Californians for Safety and Justice Associate Director Tinisch Hollins said. She called the brutal attacks on Asian Americans as “disgusting acts of racism.”
Nearly 70 organizations banded together and sent a joint letter decrying the racist attacks on Asian Americans within the region. Residents are calling out officials to counter the crimes and provide additional support to the families of survivors and victims.
“We have tremendous support from all communities from all faiths. This is what this whole event is about — coming together and having a shared vision of what safety can look like in all communities,” Chinese for Affirmative Action Co-executive Director Cynthia Choi said.
Chinese Progressive Association’s Law Wa Wu said that Asian American residents have been living anxiously due to the lack of government support amid the COVID-19 pandemic and under the leadership of former President Donald Trump, who has been in heated arguments against the Chinese nation.
Residents noted the rising number of violent crimes in the country that have been targeting Asian American residents, such as one 91-year-old Oakland Chinatown individual who was pushed down to the ground. Vicha Ratanapakdee is another victim of the brutal attacks. She died after being brutally tacked into the pavement on January 28.
Across the United States, more than 2,800 cases of hate or discrimination, including verbal abuse, violence, and others, have been observed against Asian Americans since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, a cooperative initiative conducted by Choi’s group and San Francisco State University revealed.
“Everyone’s feeling the pain, the anger, the frustration, the fear. We must remind ourselves and each other to not be reactionary, to not be guided by these negative feelings, to use these feelings and let these feelings inspire us,” the founder of the San Francisco Peace Collective, Max Leung, said.
