Photo by Martha Wilding
//Intro//
This month the press club will be bringing awareness to the topic of AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) racial injustices, discrimination, and the hate crimes they've experienced. These writings will dive deeper into this topic, find out more by keep reading!
//Stop AAPI Hate by Stephany Casillas//
There has been a recent increase in Asian American hate crimes that has driven people to participate in the Stop Asian Hate movement. The types of discrimination Asian Americans have received include verbal harassment, physical assault, civil rights violation, and online harassment. With the increase of attention of the media and support from the community, it seems people are reporting more incidents.
There have been Asian American hate crimes nationwide such as the Atlanta massage parlors shooting that happened this past March. Eight people died and many of them were Asian American women. Many incidents not only involve racism but also include sexism. Reports have shown that Asian American women have reported more hate crime incidents than men. It is important to note that sexism is relevant in this story as the perpetrator was a sex addict and Asian American women are constantly oversexualized. Many believe that this incident was not an Asian hate crime but with six of the victims being Asian American women it is hard to agree with that.
A vigil was held in New York in honor of the lives that were lost and to let people know that they will not be silenced. It has sparked a rise in rallies, protests, and movements against anti-Asian hate. Recently there was a rally in Berkeley where 1,200 people participated in protesting against Asian hate. It was started by a middle schooler and her friends because of recent hate crimes such as the Atlanta shooting. Seeing people come together is truly inspiring. It shows that youth have power and can inspire others to speak out and make their voices heard! If you want to help here is a website that offers different ways you can such as supporting Asian-American restaurants, donating to the families of the Atlanta shooting, educating yourself more about anti-Asian hate, etc. Here is the link!
//Not So Docile by Xochitl Diaz-Suarez//
Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women not only experience racial injustice, but they also experience hypersexualization from men. According to Michelle Aung Thin, a lecturer at Melbourne’s RMIT University, an Asian fetish is the sexualized objectification of the appearance of Asian women. AAPI women are fetishized as docile, exotic, submissive, cute, and small, especially, by white men.
In the case of Xiao Zhen Xie, those stereotypes were destroyed. On March 18, 2021, a 75-year-old AAPI woman was attacked on San Francisco’s Market Street and fought back. She was waiting at the traffic light when she was punched, unprovoked, in her left eye. With her fear of AAPI violence in the Bay Area, she instantly relied on her instincts to, and I quote, “find a stick and fight back.” Her attacker was shocked and found himself being plummeted by who he thought was a docile elderly AAPI woman. He was wrong. When police and paramedics arrived, they found her assailant more injured than the actual victim. While he was on the stretcher, appalled, Xie stood her ground and attempted to communicate, preaching that he attacked her and that she needed medical attention! The assaulter was confirmed to be a 39-year-old white man named Steven Jenkins.
Although he was charged with aggravated assault, the fear will always remain for Xie. Her family created a Go Fund Me in order to pay her medical expenses and therapy. That Go Fund Me raised more than $1 million which Xie’s family decided to donate towards fighting AAPI hate in the United States. While Xie and her family experienced a lot of support, we can not forget that Xie is so terrified, that she refuses to even step out of her Senior home. Her aggravated assault is not the only one.
There are too many victims of AAPI violence; especially, in the Bay Area. Please break the generational silence that the AAPI community experiences. Help support them by simply reposting a post around AAPI empowerment or donating to the cause, or educate yourself by reading articles! If you do not know who to follow in order to educate yourself. Go to our Instagram @lionspressclub and read our Stop AAPI Hate post!
//Bay Area AAPI Attacks by Alexis Ayala//
Many people from the Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community continue to be attacked by people that are racist or have hatred towards the Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. In March of 2021, there was an incident with an Uber driver that was yelled and spit at by telling passengers to put on their mask and to follow protocols. Oakland has been of the many cities where the Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community has experienced many attacks. The AAPI community has been targeted since the pandemic because people think they brought COVID-19 to the world but in reality, scientists and people don’t know yet how it has started. People think COVID-19 was started in East Asia because as scientists say it came from a bat, but that bat could have been anywhere, but in the world we live in that is full of racism that has led communities such as the AAPI community to be attacked. As a country, we can blame the former President, Donald Trump, for offending the AAPI community multiples times about COVID-19. This has led to the pandemic continuing to expand because of people that don’t want to wear masks or not be precautions.
By having elected officials sign laws that protect different communities it serves as a way to see they want change to happen, but until people in power don’t speak up then these problems will continue to happen. Since these attacks have happened mayor Libby Shaft has countered claimed that defunding OPD would lead to not helping the city. In the article, Oakland Mayor Blames Crime Wave Against Asians on Defunded Police; Black and Asian Activists Disagree it says, “...She will continue to point out hypocrisy when those who recently voted for deep cuts to public safety, turn around and criticize those very same cuts when they're actually made…” An elected official should help the BIPOC community, not attack them with her comments. A mayor should never blame citizens for wanting change or reform. Verbally accusing Oaklander’s fight against OPD, harms our community. Our city council and people in power should listen to our community for what is better for us. Like Libby Shaft she doesn’t help but instead attacks Oaklanders about police is the solution when in reality they harm the citizens.
We should help build different resources to help our AAPI community. Some of the resources I believe that should be funded more than the police is having centers for counseling or mental health when someone has experienced an attack and continues to be traumatized. This is an opportunity to help them build power and their well-being. Another resource I believe that needs more investing is getting help to open a case up to get justice for what harm was caused. As an activist, born and raised in Oakland I hope our city can lift each other up and hold our elected officials accountable no matter what party or idea they have because our representatives and police work for us, not the other way around.