KPIX CBS SF Bay Area, March 20, 2021
There was a huge rally in the heart of San Francisco’s
Chinatown Saturday to show solidarity with the city’s Asian residents. John
Ramos reports. (3-20-21)
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents an article excerpt about rallies that were held in various United States cities in support of Asian Americans who are experiencing a large increase in anti-Asian assaults.
The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who denounce racism and work to make this nation live up to its ideals.
I remain in solidarity with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and other Asians against racism.
Paraphrasing a woman in the video embedded below, "We as a society need to provide safety for everyone and it's clear that isn't happening".
****
ARTICLE EXCERPT
From https://www.huffpost.com/entry/georgia-shootings-rallies-stop-asian-hate_n_6056bc89c5b6bd95117d6e21 Supporters Rally Across The Nation Against Anti-Asian Hate After Spa Shootings
In Atlanta, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and beyond, crowds gathered to demand justice for the victims of the Georgia spa shootings.
Hundreds of people of all ages and varied racial and ethnic backgrounds gathered in Liberty Plaza in Atlanta, and in similar rallies across the country, waving signs and chanting slogans.
In Atlanta, they cheered U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Georgia House.
“I just wanted to drop by to say to my Asian sisters and brothers, we see you, and, more importantly, we are going to stand with you,” Warnock said to loud cheersas passing drivers honked car horns in support.
Robert Aaron Long, a 21-year-old white man, is accused of killing four people inside two Atlanta spas and four others at a massage business about 30 miles (50 kilometers) away in suburban Cherokee County. Six of the eight people killed Tuesday were women of Asian descent. Another person was shot but survived.
Investigators have said Long confessed to the slayings but said they weren’t racially motivated. He claimed to have a sex addiction, which caused him to lash out at what he saw as sources of temptation, according to authorities. Police have said they’re still working to establish a motive, including looking into whether the attacks can be classified as hate crimes.
Georgia lawmakers last year passed a hate crimes law allowing additional penalties for certain offenses when motivated by a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender or disability. A hate crime is not a standalone crime under Georgia law, but can be used to add time to a sentence of someone convicted of another crime.
“No matter how you want to spin it, the facts remain the
same. This was an attack on the Asian community,” said Nguyen, an advocate for
women and communities of color. She noted the shooter targeted businesses
operated by women of Asian descent.
[...]
A couple hundred people gathered in a separate Atlanta park and marched through the streets to join the larger rally, chanting “Stop Asian hate” and “We are what America looks like.”
Frankie Laguna, 23, who grew up in Atlanta and now lives in Tennessee, was an organizer of that group. She told the crowd she was the first person in her family born in the U.S. after her mother arrived from Taiwan.
“I’m sick of being belittled and hypersexualized and hated for who I am, for something I can’t change,” she said as the group marched.
[...] Similar rallies were held from coast to coast. In San Francisco, hundreds gathered in Portsmouth Square, in the middle of Chinatown, to grieve the victims and to call for an end to racist and sexist violence against Asian Americans. The participants waved signs reading “stop Asian hate.”
In Pittsburgh, hundreds also rallied, and videos posted to social media showed former Grey’s Anatomy actress and Golden Globe Award winner Sandra Oh speaking to the crowd.
“I will challenge everyone here … If you see one of our sisters and brothers in need, will you help us?” she said, later yelling into a megaphone: “I am proud to be Asian! I belong here!”
In Chicago, about 300 people gathered and in New York City, hundreds marched from Times Square to Chinatown, news outlets reported." **** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.
