4 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 1, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens leaders rally against anti-Asian
hate on National Day of Action and Healing
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Queens elected offi cials, community
organizers and religious leaders joined Bay
Terrace residents for a unity rally at Bay
Terrace Shopping Center on Friday, March
26, in solidarity with the virtual National
Day of Action and Healing.
Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng
and California Assembly member Evan
Low organized the event, which demands
an end of violence against Asian Americans
and encourages everyone to share their
stories on social media, using the hashtag
#StopAsianHate.
Congressman Th omas Suozzi acknowledged
that the past year had been challenging
for everyone and pointed out that
because of the COVID-19 restrictions,
hate crimes overall went down by 7 percent
in 2020. Yet, hate crimes against Asian
Americans went up by a staggering 150
percent the same year, and offi cials believe
that the number of racist attacks against
AAPI community members is even higher
because many victims are too afraid to
come forward.
Suozzi shared an anecdote about his
father, an Italian immigrant, who said, “You
can’t have a rose without the thorns; you
can’t have the beautiful things in life without
the suff ering.”
“Well, we’ve been through our thorns,” the
congressman said. “Th is past year, this violence
and hatred against Asian Americans is
an example of those thorns. But you all here
tonight, and people throughout the country
that are doing the same thing, which is a celebration
of the roses of life. Th e best part of
life is when people from all diff erent backgrounds,
all diff erent nationalities and races
and religions come together to say we are
one. We are united against Asian hate.”
Suozzi introduced Rabbi Yossi Blesofsky
of Chabad Lubavitch of Northeast Queens,
who recalled the Crown Heights riots in
1991 and the words his spiritual mentor
Rabbi Schneerson shared with then New
York City Mayor Dinkins. Th e Rabbi told
Dinkins that they were one people.
“Who would think a Hasidic Rabbi identifying
so closely with members of a completely
diff erent culture?” Rabbi Yossi asked.
“Because the truth is, we are one people. We
are all God’s creatures, and we are all one
family. And we are here today to make a
protest. You might ask what diff erence does
Residents, elected offi cials and community leaders came out to support the Asian American community amid a rise in hate crimes against AAPIs in the
past year on March 26, 2021.
it make? What sort of impact does it have?
But the reality is that if you don’t protest
when something hurtful and painful happens
to your fellow citizens, then, apparently,
it doesn’t bother you enough.”
He reminded the crowd that Passover,
which began on March 27, celebrates freedom
from oppression, freedom from bigotry
and freedom from hate, before
reciting a prayer.
Queens State Senator John Liu, who has
attended many rallies in the last several
weeks protesting the rise in hate crimes
against the AAPI community, recognized
that the past year had been diffi cult for
everyone, but even more so for Asian
Americans.
“Everybody has their own perspective,
and the perspective of Asian Americans
is not spoken of enough or written about
enough. And that’s why it is so heartening
for me, personally, to see this kind of rally
take place,” Liu said.
He recalled a bias attack in Bay Terrace
decades ago when an Asian American teenager
was beaten by a gang called Th e Master
Race.
“I thought I had kind of seen the worst of
those days a long time ago. But this past year
reminds me and reminds all of us that we
have to stay on top of it. And that we have
to stay united. Th is is a community not of
Asian Americans. Th is is a community that
includes Asian Americans. Th is is a community
that includes everybody. Th at’s what
makes Bay Terrace such a special place,” the
state senator emphasized.
Queens Borough President Donavan
Richards demanded that the mass shooting
in Atlanta, which killed eight people — six
of whom were Asian American women —
was labeled a hate crime.
“It was domestic terrorism. Th at individual
must be held accountable,” Richards said.
“Silence is complicity.”
He also thanked the Asian community for
standing with the African American community
during last year’s protests, demanding
justice for the police killings of George
Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
“So we must continue to see each other,
to love one another. Th at’s the premise of
what this country was founded on. Th at’s
the beauty of Queens County. So I love you,
and we should all say that,” Richards said.
“And we should not wait for these moments
to see each other and recognize who we are
as a people because there’s only one race,
and that is the human race.”
Assemblyman Edward Braunstein
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
reminded the crowd that there is
strength in numbers and to call out
racism whenever they see it.
“If we see someone on social media who
is making racist statements, we need to
call them out. If we’re at the grocery store,
and someone’s mumbling something under
their breath that is racist, we need to let
them know that we heard it, and it’s not
acceptable. And I think together, the more
and more people who take that determination,
who are not afraid to be a little bit confrontational
sometimes, who are not going
to be silent,” Braunstein said. “We’re going
to continue to push until we eradicate this
virus of hate from our country.”
Councilman Paul Vallone stressed
that Queens is one community and that
hate doesn’t have a place in the “World’s
Borough” while pointing to the crowd made
up of children, parents and students of different
ethnic backgrounds.
“Th is is the message for anyone who
wants to toss any hate in this community.
We are standing together. And that’s what
tonight is for,” said Vallone, who thanked
the kids in the crowd for holding up signs
decrying racism and hate.
“You are what’s going to change everything,”
he told the children.
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