4/07/2021
A national coalition of Asian American organizations is calling on the Biden Administration to take “concrete action” to stem anti-Asian racism and violence. “Though President Joe Biden has repeatedly condemned anti-Asian hate and has proposed measures to address the problem, thus far his administration has failed to fully identify and properly address crucial issues of longstanding violence and racism against Asian Americans,” the coalition lamented in a statement issued last week.
Spearheaded by Asian Industry B2B (in California) and Washington Asians for Equality (in Washington State), this national coalition urges the Biden administration to take the following action:
- Reinstate the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Yale University regarding discrimination against Asian-American applicants in undergraduate admissions, and denounce racial preferences and other systemically racist practices commonly used to reduce the number of Asian-American students at educational institutions.
- Publicly state — through President Biden — that all perpetrators of violent attacks against Asian Americans must be condemned and punished, regardless of the perpetrator’s race. Anti-Asian racism has existed in America for many years and did not begin during the COVID-19 pandemic. On too many occasions, we as a country and a society have failed to fight such racism with adequate vigor, commitment, or candor.
- Appoint Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the former Attorney General of California, to work with local and state law enforcement, especially in urban areas, to strengthen police protection for Asian Americans in their communities.
“Stopping racism and violence against Asian Americans will require courage and moral clarity,” said Linda Yang, director of Washington Asians for Equality. “We hope the Biden Administration will rise to the occasion by not only speaking honestly about anti-Asian hate crimes, even when it might be uncomfortable, but also taking real action to tackle problems that contribute to anti-Asian discrimination, whether in America’s higher education or on the streets in our local communities.”
“In recent months, far too many horrific, wanton attacks against Asian Americans have occurred in this country. They are grotesque and they must end,” said Marc Ang, president of Asian Industry B2B. “It is unconscionable that in multiple cities, the elderly feel they cannot walk down the street safely in broad daylight and ordinary people cannot take a subway train without being assaulted. Law and order must be upheld to prevent further attacks on the most vulnerable, and we call on the Biden Administration to defend law and order and help protect Asian Americans.”
The coalition is comprised of more than two dozen groups and officials, including the Chinese American Parents Association of Northern Virginia. On Tuesday, the coalition held a national press conference calling for moral clarity and real action from the Biden Administration.
‘This was a massacre.’ Family of Atlanta shooting victim are calling for justice
By Natasha Chen, Melissa Alonso and Christina Maxouris
3/21/2021
(CNN)Jami Webb says she was planning to celebrate her mother’s 50th birthday this week. But Xiaojie Tan, who owned Youngs Asian Massage in Acworth, Georgia, was among eight people who lost their lives Tuesday in a shooting rampage that has rattled the nation.
Four people were killed at the Cherokee County spa, and four more about an hour later at two spas some 30 miles away in Atlanta. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
“I just want to hold her tight,” Webb told CNN about her mother. “Give her a hug… hold her hand, hug her for a long time.”
Tan’s ex-husband, Michael Webb, says he just wants justice.
“I think what makes a difference to us… is that justice is done,” he said. “This was a massacre. We have a justice system and he’ll have to be held accountable. And our family will be involved in that process as much as we can be.”
“We just want justice to be done and we’re hopeful that it will be.”
Both residents and public health officials have called on investigators to consider hate crime charges against the suspect, whether on the basis of race or sex — both of which are covered in Georgia’s hate crime law.
“The acknowledgment that this was a crime built upon hatred for a particular community matters and I think that it’s important that prosecutors and police consider that in making those charges,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN on Saturday.
Rallies across the country
Following the shootings, Americans gathered in rallies all across the country, both honoring the victims and condemning violence against Asian Americans — which has surged during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in an Atlanta rally Saturday. One Florida resident, who drove eight hours to attend, told CNN the violence “hits home.”
“I see my mother, I see my acquaintances, my colleagues,” Timothy Phan said. “This is an Asian issue but on top of that, this is more than that, this is a human issue.”
“We’re in this struggle together,” Henry Wong, in San Francisco, told CNN affiliate KGO at another rally this weekend. “If we don’t voice it now when will we?”
Just last week, the San Francisco Police Department announced it was boosting patrols in predominantly Asian neighborhoods in response to an “alarming spike in brazen anti-Asian violence in recent weeks.”
“One of the biggest problems in fighting hate crimes is that too many of the incidents are not recorded,” California Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, who introduced a bill to establish a statewide hate crime hotline, told CNN. “We want to make it as easy and safe as possible for people to report these incidents of hate crime.”
“The women who died, they looked just like me, they look like my mom, they look like my aunties,” New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou said during a rally in Manhattan Saturday. “They look like us.”
At least 10 suspected anti-Asian hate crimes were committed in New York City between January 1 and March 14, according to data from the New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force.
These are the victims of violence
The victims include 49-year-old Tan of Kennesaw; Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, of Acworth; Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta; and Daoyou Feng, 44, who were fatally shot at Youngs Asian Massage. Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, 30, of Acworth, was also shot at Youngs Asian Massage but survived.
Within an hour after the first shooting, four Asian women were killed in Atlanta — three at the Gold Massage Spa, and one at the Aroma Therapy Spa across the street, authorities said. They were: Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; Suncha Kim, 69; and Yong Ae Yue, 63, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
One of the four victims in Atlanta was a South Korean citizen and permanent resident of the US, according to Kwangsuk Lee, South Korea’s deputy consulate general in Atlanta. The other three are believed to be Americans of Korean ethnicity, Lee told CNN on Friday.
Charlie Yoon Kim, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta told CNN he received phone calls from two families of victims who shared their financial difficulties after the sudden tragedy and “asked us if we could help them.”
“They were worried about rents and utility fees and other practical costs including the funeral process,” Kim said.
The association is now planning on raising funds to provide support to the victims’ families, Kim added.
“All Asian groups and associations are willing to join in raising support for the people who are affected by this incident, so I hope we can find some practical help for them,” Kim told CNN.
Grief and hardship left behind
One GoFundMe page for Yaun’s family says, “We just don’t know how to do any of this alone. If you can find it in your heart to donate, our Family will certainly appreciate all of your support.”
A GoFundMe page dedicated to help the two sons of Grant, killed at the Gold Massage Spa in Atlanta, has raised more than $2.5 million.
“Frankly, I have no time to grieve for long,” her son, Randy Park, wrote on the page. “I will need to figure out the living situation for my brother and I for the next few months, possibly year. As of now I have been advised to move out of my current home within the end of March to save money and find a new place to live.”
In another GoFundMe page, this one for Kim, one of her grandchildren wrote in a post Kim migrated to the US from South Korea and worked two to three jobs while speaking very little English.
“My grandmother was an angel, to have her taken away in such a horrific manner is unbearable to think about. As an immigrant, all my grandmother ever wanted in life was to grow old with my grandfather, and watch her children and grandchildren live the life she never got to live,” the page says.
In another page, Yue’s youngest son wrote on GoFundMe his mom was “loved to introduce our family and friends to her home-cooked Korean food and Korean karaoke.”
“We are still in shock over the violent murder of our mother, but through our grieving we are making plans to memorialize her, bring our family together, and resolve her financial matters,” he wrote.
A GoFundMe page was also started by the wife of Hernandez-Ortiz — who was the sole survivor of the shootings — to help with medical bills.
Hernandez-Ortiz was shot in the forehead and the bullet traveled down into his lungs and into his stomach, his wife, Flora Gonzalez Gomez wrote on the page, adding he is now in intensive care in the hospital.
Suspect charged with murder
The suspect, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was arrested Tuesday night in a traffic stop 150 miles south of Atlanta.
He told police he believed he had a sex addiction and that he saw the spas as “a temptation … that he wanted to eliminate,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker said on Wednesday.
He claimed the attacks weren’t racially motivated, Baker added. But Atlanta police say it’s still too early to know the suspect’s motive.
Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said the investigation is ongoing and appropriate charges will be brought.
Long is being held without opportunity for bail in Cherokee County, where he faces four counts of murder with malice, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault and five counts of using a firearm while committing a felony.
He has been charged with four counts of murder in connection with the two spa shootings in Atlanta, according to Atlanta police.
CNN’s Paul Vercammen, Jason Hanna, Madeline Holcombe and Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/21/us/metro-atlanta-shootings-sunday/index.html
Mar 19, 2021
A 76-year-old Asian American grandmother attacked in San Francisco is recovering at home Thursday but her family says it will be a long time before she feels safe going outside again. Jean Elle reports.
Joint Statement – Stand Up Against the Racial Violence and Hate Crimes
联合声明 – 站起来反对种族暴力和仇恨犯罪
近日，鉴于全美各地针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪接连发生，大华府地区中国大专院校校友会联合会（CAAGW），美国华盛顿地区同乡会联合会（CCCAA），美国华人专业团体联合会（UCAPO）和希望中文学校（HCS）特此发表以下联合声明。
自新冠病毒大流行以来，针对亚裔的暴力、骚扰和仇恨案件的发生数量与日俱增。我们坚决反对任何针对亚裔的歧视现象，反对一切形式的仇恨暴力行为，并在此沉痛哀悼所有受害者。此时此刻我们的心与受害者家属同在，与全美亚裔社区的安危同在。这些仇恨犯罪和暴力行为已经在亚裔社区引起恐慌，对此我们倡议：团结一致，向仇恨与暴力抗议。
3月16日，在佐治亚州亚特兰大发生的枪击事件再次造成了人员伤亡，六名亚裔女性在本次枪击案中丧生。我们对此感到无比震惊，愤怒和痛心，对该案件的发生表示强烈谴责！我们郑重要求联邦政府和地方执法机构采取行动，将暴力行为绳之以法。此外，我们严肃要求相关机构立即处理针对亚裔的仇恨与犯罪，确保我们社区的安全。亚裔美国人与所有美国人一样，拥有最基本的公民权利，值得受到尊重与一视同仁地对待。我们特此呼吁，全美亚裔社区应团结一致，携手共进，反对仇恨犯罪，诉求公平与正义。
大华府地区中国大专院校校友会联合会
美国华盛顿地区同乡会联合会
美国华人专业团体联合会
希望中文学校
2021年3月18日
Joint Statement
Stand Up Against the Racial Violence and Hate Crimes
March 18, 2021
In response to the alarming racial violence and the recent hate crimes towards Asians and Asian Americans, Chinese Alumni Associations of Greater Washington, Coordination Council of Chinese American Associations, the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations, and the Hope Chinese School have issued the following joint statement.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed an upswing in discrimination, violence, harassment, xenophobia, and hate towards Asians and Asian Americans.
We are heartbroken, outraged and appalled by these acts of violence and discrimination targeting Asian Americans. Our hearts grieve with the families of the victims, and we share in the concern and enormous pain felt throughout the Asian American communities of this nation. The increase in hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans has provoked fear and terror in our communities. A harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. Our silence is complicity. We have to stand together in solidarity, speak out and act.
In the past week, the fatal shooting that happened in Georgia has once again led to the loss of lives, regardless of motives, notably six women of Asian descent. Therefore, we demand that the federal government and the local law enforcement agencies take action and bring the violence to justice. Furthermore, we demand that the violence against Asian Americans be dealt with immediately, and that the safety of our communities be ensured and taken seriously. Asian Americans deserve to be treated equally, with dignity and respect. We must stand up against hate crimes and discrimination, and stand together to fight injustice.
Mar 18, 2021
Maura Moynihan, daughter of late U.S. Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, harasses an asian woman in NYC, calling her a b*tch while telling her to go back to Communist China. The victim is not Chinese.
While being confronted by the victim’s husband, this racist plays victim and claims that she is being assaulted. She offers the cab driver double the payment for a quick getaway. Absolute scum.
亚特兰大华人经纪联盟就3.16 恶性枪杀案件发表声明
由 亚特兰大华人房产经纪联盟 · 发布日期 2021年3月20日 · 已更新 2021年3月21日
回忆往事，太平洋铁路，第—条全长3000多公里横贯北美大陆的铁路，在1865年近1100公里的中央太平洋铁路上，有95%的工作是在华工加入的筑路大军在四年中完成的。
2018年12月，美国总统在参众两院一致通过的法案上签字，为第二次世界大战的华裔退伍军人集体颁发国会金质奖章，以表彰他们在二战当中所做出的卓越贡献。
从太平洋铁路华工参加建设，到华裔科学家诺贝尔奖获得者；
从中餐饮服务行业人员、洗衣店、小商小贩、物流商业经营者，到电脑工程师、大学教授、医务工作者、学术界、政府部门公职人员，林林总总，在美的华裔撑起了美国繁荣进步的一份天地。
在美华人取得的如此傲人的成绩业绩是值得称颂的，骄傲的，是值得受人尊重的。
令人不安的是，一些别有用心的人，鼓动仇视华裔的思潮，辱华、厌华和攻击华裔/亚裔的事件时有发生，威胁到了华人的人身安全，有愈演愈烈演变成大规模群体、族裔对抗事件的可能。
3/16/2021 在亚特兰大地区，三家按摩店被枪杀的4位韩裔女性、2位华裔女性、1位白裔女性、1位墨裔男子的恶性枪杀案件，让在美的华人感到寒心、担心和不安！
亚特兰大华人经纪联盟发表声明：
严厉谴责3.16 恶性枪杀事件，发出我们华人的怒吼，反对一切仇恨亚裔的行为、言论和思潮。
严惩3.16 恶性枪杀的暴力犯罪人，给8名受害者还以法律的公道，赔偿受害人及家属的经济损失。
. . . . . .
亚裔生活在其它种族的夹缝中，被无端欺辱、杀害的事件频繁发生，犯罪人有各个族裔的，亚裔常常是无辜的受害者。
这不是派别之争，希望通过集体发声，把亚裔切身的安全问题提请全社会的广泛关注和重视。
面对歧视、不公，遭遇仇恨暴力，不要隐忍，这不是解决种族歧视的正确方式。
大家只有站出来，团结起来，为自己的亚裔发声，才能改变现状！
我们是美国的建设者、和平的保卫者，我们有屈辱、有抗争、有成就、有爱心、有期盼、有决心！
我们呼吁全美的正义之人、有识之士站出来，为正义为和平为华人的不公平大声疾呼！
3/20/2021 星期六，亚特兰大华人反仇恨亚裔大游行照片链接：
摄影师：湿地松鼠
Mar 3, 2021
Asian Americans have been increasingly targeted in verbal and physical attacks since the coronavirus pandemic. A spate of recent assaults against seniors, including one that resulted in the death of an 84-year-old Thai man, has renewed national attention around the issue. On Wednesday, March 3 at 2:00pm ET, national reporter Michelle Ye Hee Lee speaks with actor/producer Daniel Dae Kim, about the growing fears in the community, calls for action and his own advocacy.
HCSTC Campus Board
WE ARE ON STRIKE TOMORROW!
3/20/2021
Dear HCS TC campus community members:
This is to let you know that there will be NO CLASS tomorrow at the HCS TC Campus.
As we are all shocked to learn of the cowardly attack in Atlanta this past week, resulted in 8 deaths, of which six are women of Asian descent, it’s imperative for all of us to stand up, speak out and voice our decrier, denouncement and condemnation against systemic racial discrimination and hate crimes against Asian Americans in our country.
PBS made a program detailing the exponential increase of hate crimes against Asians since the pandemic. Please view the PBS program via the link and share it with your friends and neighbors to speak out and condemn the racial discrimination and hatred against Asian Americans.
We demand more main stream media to report about the racial discrimination and hatred towards Asian Americans and pacific Islanders (AAPI), so more people are aware of it and join hands together to fight it. To be silent against the discrimination and racial hatred against AAPI is simply not acceptable. Do something, donate your time and donate your voice. Do whatever you can and please just do something, so we can, together, stop the ugly, disgusting and senseless racial discrimination and hatred towards AAPI and all people of color, simply based on their color of skin, origin and different appearances.
Tomorrow, there will be a nationwide parade and demonstration across major US cities to protest against the racial discrimination and hate crimes on AAPI. To show our solidarity in the protest, to voice our anger against the systemic discrimination and hate crimes against us, and to demonstrate our resolve to fight for our justice and all people of color, the HCS TC campus decides to cancel all classes for tomorrow, 3/21/2021, and go on strike to fight for our racial justice and equality, which unfortunately on this land of equality and free, has excluded us and denied us for too long.
Best and in solidarity to fight for our racial justice and equality,
HCSTC Campus Board
