Virtual panel discusses hate and violence against Asian Americans
Congresswoman Grace Meng hosts a virtual panel discussion on Thursday, April 1,
with New York State Attorney General Letitia James, faith leaders from houses of
worship in Queens, and community leaders on how to heal as a community and to
find resources for self-advocacy. Screenshot via Zoom
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | APRIL 9-APRIL 15, 2021
Following remarks by members of
the clergy from houses of worship in
Queens, Meng and officials from the
American Psychiatric Association,
National Asian Pacific American
Women’s Forum, Asian American
Federation, Mom’s Rising and Hollaback!
held a Q&A segment.
In response to the uptick in anti-
Asian and xenophobic harassment, a
global people-powered movement to
end harassment called “Hollaback!”
partnered with Asian Americans
Advancing Justice to adapt its free
bystander intervention methodology
training session.
“We’ve had 45,000 people sign up
for training over the past week, and
we’ve trained about 30,000 people in
this methodology so far,” said Emily
May of Hollaback! “We are committed
alongside our partners at Asian
Americans Advancing Justice to keep
this training free and open for any
American who wants to get trained
during this, or at any time.”
According to Jo-Ann Yoo, executive
director of the Asian American
Federation, safety conversations need
to happen for not just Asian Americans,
but for all New Yorkers.
“This really is a citywide concern;
it can’t just be our solution alone. The
solution comes from everybody,” said
Yoo after announcing the launch of
AAF’s Hope Against Hate campaign
to stop the senseless violence against
Asian Americans.
When asked whether the Department
of Education should implement
a series of anti-racism/hate/bullying
campaigns in schools and integrating
histories of immigrant stories of each
ethnic group into a curriculum, Meng
said she is working on a legislation
with other caucuses within Congress
to expand the curriculum in schools.
“Even though I was born and raised
here and went to school here, I really
did not learn a lot about different communities’
contributions to American
history,” Meng said. “I barely learned
anything about the Chinese building
the railroad or Japanese Americans
being incarcerated, or slaves building
the U.S. Capitol. You just don’t learn
enough about the complete picture of
American history.”
The panelists agreed that children
are never too young to understand the
issue and concept of belonging and exclusion.
“It’s really important that you’re
teaching kids the concept of inclusion
from a young age and really relate
it to what they understand and
experience right now versus what is
currently happening out there,” said
Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director
of the National Asian Pacific
American Women’s Forum.
While anxiety and fear has been
prevalent in the Asian American
community this year, it has highlighted
the need for more accessible
mental health services and resources.
According to Yeon, 50 percent of
respondents who took a poll said they
experienced racial harassment in
public in the last 24 months, while 75
percent of respondents said they have
mental health issues as a result of the
pandemic.
Dr. Dora Wang of the American
Psychiatric Association noted the
lack of culturally sensitive and appropriate
services in most places
that include therapists who don’t understand
the cultural experiences of
Asian Americans.
“It would be great if there were
some type of web portal where people
could log on and find a therapist or
psychiatrist who speaks their language,
or translation services, or
people who understand the culture,”
Wang said.
In the Asian American community
in New York City, there are only three
mental health clinics and not enough
doctors who speak the language, according
to Yoo. She also noted the
many roles that law enforcement has
taken on, such as mental health services
— a section that needs to be separate
since the NYPD is not trained to
handle mental health cases.
Addressing the issue of gun violence
in America and the recent mass
shootings in Atlanta that claimed the
lives of eight people, six of whom were
Asian women, Gloria Pan of MomsRising
said all of the issues — racism,
hate, xenophobia and violence
against women — spring from the
toxic roots of patriarchal white supremacy,
which is strengthened by
gun violence.
“In order for us all to be safe we
have to fight the explosive combination
of racism, misogyny and gun violence
to reduce the likelihood of these
shootings happening again,” Pan said.
Reach reporter Carlotta Mohamed
by e-mail at cmohamed@schneps
media.com or by phone at (718) 260–
4526.
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Although Pastor Rev. Patrick Longalong,
an Asian American Catholic
priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
in Queens Village, has lived in
the borough for most of his life, he
has often been asked, “Oh, is it hot
where you came from?” In response,
he would say, “What do you mean,
Bellerose, Queens? It’s still the same
temperature where I came from.”
The passive aggressive comments
and snide comments, Longalong said,
can be very discouraging and hurtful,
pushing many people to be quiet and
stay amongst themselves, especially
in the Asian American community,
as anti-Asian attacks over the past
year have rapidly increased in New
York City, with several attacks occurring
in Queens.
“I’m seeing a lot of things on Facebook
where people are encouraged
to not go out by yourself, and to find
someone to walk with,” Longalong
said. “For people to encourage that is
devastating. I want to be able to walk
out on the streets of Queens on my
own, by myself, and have some quiet
time. I want to feel safe.”
Longalong’s concerns about safety
during a time period where Asian
Americans are experiencing fear, anger
and hurt, is a comment Congresswoman
Grace Meng has heard over
the past year from her constituents in
Queens.
To address these concerns, Meng
led a virtual panel discussion on
Thursday, April 1, with New York
State Attorney General Letitia James,
faith leaders from houses of worship
in Queens, and community leaders.
The panel’s focus was how to heal as a
community and to find resources for
self-advocacy.
Meng, who has introduced legislation
to combat the rise in hate crimes
against Asian Americans, expressed
gratitude for the incredible solidarity
that so many in Queens, and across
the country, have shown to the Asian
American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)
community.
“We are so heartened and thankful
for the show of solidarity,” Meng
said. “I know that people are really
scared and are telling their parents
and grandparents to not go outside in
fear of something happening to them.
People are telling me they’re not going
to let their kids go outside to play
in fear of them getting harassed. It’s a
tough time but it’s important we have
this conversation and continue to
partner with communities and keep
each other safe.”
James condemned the violent rise
in anti-Asian attacks as “despicable”
and called for unity, reiterating that
hate will not be tolerated.
“As someone who has experienced
hate in her lifetime, it’s important
that we stand with other communities.
It really is a front to our values
and everything we believe in, and
each and every time there have been
acts of hate against any community,
I’ve stood with them,” James said.
“There is no room for hate in New
York or this nation — whether it be
acts of anti-Semitism, acts against
the African American community,
the Asian community, LGBT and immigrant
communities.”
/media.com
link
