JACKSON HEIGHTS COMMUNITY MOURNS VICTIMS OF
ATLANTA SHOOTING, DENOUNCES ANTI-ASIAN HATE
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
More than 100 community members
gathered for a candlelight vigil
in Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights
on Wednesday, March 17, to mourn the
eight victims, six of whom were Asian
American women, of the tragic mass
shooting at several Atlanta spas earlier
this week.
At nightfall, people of different ages
and backgrounds held candles and
chanted “stop hate crimes” as the 7
train roared overhead.
The tragedy that took place at three
spas in Atlanta on Tuesday, March
16, has sparked more fear and anger
among Asian American communities
in the U.S. as reports of anti-Asian hate
and violence have surged exponentially
in the last year. Nearly 3,800 racist incidents
against Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders (AAPI) in the U.S. were
reported over the last year, according to
Stop AAPI Hate.
“We are beyond sad; we are angry.
We are frustrated and we are heartbroken
at the senseless violence that
has deprived families of their mothers
and sisters and daughters that they so
dearly loved,” Ahyoung Kim, associate
director of small business programs at
the Asian American Federation, said
through tears.
Weilai, a Jackson Heights resident,
said she brought her 5-year-old daughter
to the vigil to make sure she knows
“we cannot be silent.”
“I don’t want her to grow up in this
fear,” Weilai said. “Not even just talking
about race, but just being a woman. We
can’t be the silent minority anymore.”
Atlanta authorities charged 21-
year-old Robert Aaron Long, a white
man, for the shootings on Wednesday.
Authorities said the suspect claimed
he had a “sexual addiction” and carried
out the shootings to eliminate the
“temptation,” but haven’t ruled out bias
motives, according to The New York
Times.
Korean-language media have since
reported Long expressed anti-Asian
comments while carrying out the attacks.
An Atlanta police officer also said
the suspect had “a really bad day,” a
comment that’s outraged community
members. The officer was later found
to have posted racist T-shirts on social
media, according to Buzzfeed News.
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards, referencing the police officer’s
comment, said, “If you had a bad
day, go get some ice cream.”
“This what white supremacy at its
worst, let’s call it what it is,” Richards
said. “Don’t tell me about a bad day; tell
me about the domestic terrorism perpetrated
by this individual. This had
nothing to do about a bad day — this
had to do with hate. Hatred stoked by
those who were emboldened and who
have been emboldened from the actions
A vigil for the victims of the Atlanta shooting was held at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights on March 17. Photo by Dean Moses
of the last administration.”
Richards has vehemently condemned
the anti-Asian attacks that
have recently occurred in Queens.
In New York City, the number of
hate crimes reported to the NYPD by
Asian Americans last year grew nine
times from 2019, according to a report
by THE CITY.
Shekar Krishnan, a community
activist and candidate for Jackson
Heights City Council who organized the
vigil, said anti-Asian hate and violence
has existed long before the COVID-19
pandemic.
“But our AAPI communities have
been invisibilized for so long, stereotyped
for so long, and it is that bigotry,
that prejudice and xenophobia that results
in the violence after violence that
we are seeing,” he said. “Today, we are
here to say that we will not be silenced,
that an attack on one of us is an attack
on all of us, and that we as community,
we as a city, keep ourselves safe together.”
Krishnan added that it’s also a time
to “recommit to dismantling white supremacy
in all its forms.”
Carolyn Tran, a longtime community
leader and candidate for Jackson
Heights City Council, emphasized that
68 percent of the 3,800 reported racist
incidents against AAPI community
were toward women.
Tran said the shooting in Atlanta is
a “continuation of the erasure, the dehumanization,
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | MARCH 26-APRIL 1, 2021
the hyper-sexualization
of Asian women” within the history
of U.S. colonialism, adding that AAPI
women must be centered to address the
issues.
“East Asians, southeast Asians
make up a majority of the service industry
— nail salon workers, message
parlors, hospitality — and it is because
of our over-representation in this industries
that we are also seen as vulnerable
and we are always silenced,”
Tran said. “Enough of that.”
The shooting also reignited calls for
sex workers to be treated with dignity
and respect. According to a USA Today
report, illicit reviews of the spas have
raised red flags that the shooter may
have targeted vulnerable workers.
Chuck Park, a Jackson Heights resident,
spoke about his parents, who’ve
owned a store on 74th Street for 35
years, coming home with stories of
assault for years.
He said he’s scared for his son,
his wife “who gets heckled walking
through Diversity Plaza,” and for “every
single sex worker and street vendor”
on Roosevelt Avenue. He brought
roses to show solidarity with sex workers
and other small business owners on
the busy business corridor.
Jake Valencia, 22, and Shirley
Wang, 22, from nearby Elmhurst, said
they wanted to show solidarity, respect
and commemorate Asian people.
Valencia, who is of Filipino descent,
said it’s particularly important to recognize
Asian women and sex workers.
“We need to destigmatize sex work.
We need to honor these people and respect
them,” Valencia said. “These are
not people below us, they can be anyone.”
They also said they were there for
their grandparents and elders, who
they worry might experience hate, given
the way China has been blamed for
the pandemic.
Wang, who is of Chinese descent,
said the virus being called the “China
virus” — a slur coined by former President
Donald Trump — is “unnecessary
and starting hate for no reason.”
“Every country in the world has
gotten this coronavirus, and it’s important
to fight it together than start
hate and point fingers and start blaming
one race for all of this. It could
have happened anywhere,” Wang said.
“In the past there have been various
viruses, diseases that start in other
countries and we don’t blame them; we
start to fix the problem. How are we going
to fix a problem by creating another
problem?”
Arthur Ahn, who was born and
raised in central Queens, was moved to
tears at the vigil and said the gathering
reminded him “that our humanity is
not lost.”
“It’s a tragedy in itself that we even
need to have a vigil like this, let alone
the incredible tragedy of what happened
yesterday in Atlanta,” Ahn said.
“It’s uplifting to see all these people
even in the face of mourning.”