Hundreds rally against hate in Columbus Park
BY GABRIELE
HOLTERMANN
Hundreds of New Yorkers
fi lled Columbus Park in
Chinatown on March 21,
protesting the wave of anti-Asian
American hate crimes within the
past year and the tragic event on
March 16, when eight people,
including six Asian women, were
shot and killed by a 21-yearold
white gunman in Atlanta,
Georgia.
Senator Chuck Schumer
opened the rally by holding two
moments of silence. One moment
of silence for the eight victims
killed — another moment of
silence for the Asian American
victims of violence and bigotry
in the past year.
He called out former President
Trump for not speaking out
against hate but encouraging
racism in many ways. The Senate
Majority Leader encouraged
everyone to speak up when they
witness discrimination.
“I will join you every moment
as long as God gives me breath
Asian feminists have had enough
in my lungs, we can speak out
to fi ght against anti-Asian hate.
We will not tolerate it any longer.
Keep up the fi ght. You are the
best of America, and the haters
don’t even belong in America,”
Schumer said.
MC Jin, the fi rst Asian American
solo rapper to be signed to a
major record label, admitted that
the past year has been emotionally
exhausting. He urged everyone to
PHOTO BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
use their social media platforms
to share their stories and feelings,
no matter the size of their followers.
But Jin also warned that they
would encounter resistance from
those who do not want to hear
the truth, and he encouraged
his Asian brothers and sisters to
stand proud.
“Not everybody out there that
you engage with wants to have
a civil discourse. Not everybody
wants to have their mind opened.
There are people right now at
this very moment, just to further
divide because they see we are
coming together,” Jin said before
performing one of his songs,
“Learn Chinese,” which starts
with the words “Yeah, I’m Chinese
and what!”
Jack Liang, the founding organizer
of the event, felt compelled
to make the voice of the Asian
American community heard and
jumped into action planning today’s
rally. He secured Columbus
Park hoping to raise awareness of
the racist attacks on his community
and spread an uplifting and
empowering message.
“Today, we celebrate what our
future could look like when we
stand united. New York City, we
are golden! And we are worthy,
worthy of love, worthy to feel safe
in our own skin, worthy of protection,
worthy of recognition,”
Liang passionately pleaded.
His co-organizer Ben Wei
reminded the crowd that discrimination
was nothing new to the
Asian American community and
pointed to the Chinese Exclusion
Act of 1882, the Japanese internment
camps during World War II,
and the brutal murder of Vincent
Chin in 1982 in Detroit.
Wei also demanded to label
the mass shooting in Atlanta as
a hate crime. Drawing cheers
and applause from the crowd, he
said, “There was no coincidence
that six out of the eight victims
were Asian. And to pretend that
it wasn’t is gaslighting. We are
here to say to all the deniers out
there; we will not let you steal our
voice.”
Assemblymember Yuh-line
Niou, the fi rst Asian American
woman elected to the NY State
Assembly, shared what she felt
when she saw the photos of
the women killed in Tuesday’s
massacre.
“They look like me. They look
like my aunties. They look like my
mom. They look like the people
we see every single day. And, and
that’s what’s important. That’s
why it’s important to make sure
that we give their existence
room,” she tearfully said.
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