20 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 3, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
‘Unity Rally’ brings leaders together in light of unwavering hate
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards, elected offi cials and community
leaders from across the spectrum
of religion, race and ethnicity gathered
at Queens Borough Hall on May 26 for
a Unity Rally to denounce the continuing
rise in hate crimes toward the Asian,
Jewish and Muslim American communities.
Deputy Borough President Rhonda
Binda opened the rally, pointing out that
Queens, the “World’s Borough,” is home
to immigrants from over 190 countries
and that this diversity is the borough’s
“greatest asset.”
“So there’s no place for hate. Th ere’s no
place for violence,” Binda said.
She then introduced Richards, applauding
his continuing endeavor of “bringing
people of all backgrounds, all ethnicities,
together.”
Richards described the gathering, which
was held one day aft er the one-year anniversary
of George Floyd’s murder, as a
solemn occasion and said it was “deeply
upsetting that we have to gather here yet
again because the hate won’t stop.”
Referring to the many times the elected
offi cials and community leaders and
members have gathered in recent months,
rallying against the rise in racist attacks,
Richards said, “I’m simply getting tired
of it. But I know, just as Dr. King said, we
have to keep marching on.”
“We’re here to continue to stand against
hate,” Richards said. “We can never get too
tired to stand up against hate.”
Richards called out the attack on a
35-year-old Asian American man who
was pushed onto the subway tracks on
May 24, and the wave of anti-Semitic
attacks in Brooklyn in recent days.
“People simply being attacked for who
they are. Whether you are Asian, Jewish,
Black, Muslim, you belong here,” Richards
said. Pointing to the leaders beside him, he
continued, “Th is is what diversity looks like.
We understand our diversity is our strength.”
He shared that his offi ce has called for
additional funding of the Offi ce for the
Prevention of Hate Crimes and that his offi ce
continued to partner with the New York
Commission on Human Rights, the Queens
district attorney’s offi ce and the NYPD.
“We cannot and will not let this rise in
hate and bias attacks tear us down, nor
will we let it divide us,” Richards said.
“Because we know that’s what the haters
want. Hate fl ourishes when we do not
have togetherness. But I refuse to let us
be split.”
Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of Th e Reform
Temple of Forest Hills invoked a passage
from the Bible that states that all are created
in God’s image, regardless of religion
or ethnicity.
“When you attack another person, you
are attacking God,” Rabbi Kaiserman said.
“When you hate another person for being
diff erent, you are hating yourself.”
Professor Madhulika S. Khandelwal,
director of the Asian/American Center at
Queens College, said she understood that
some residents might be concerned when
they see their neighborhood changing.
“But to blame some people for that is
more than ignorance. It is like really saying
that ‘you don’t belong here.’ We belong
here,” Khandelwal said.
Wayne Ho, president and CEO of the
Chinese American Planning Council, the
largest Asian American social services
nonprofi t serving 60,000 New Yorkers
each year, shared that his staff was on
the front line during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic and risked their
lives serving the community. Yet, they
became victims of hate crimes — they
were spat on and had objects and insults
hurled at them.
“Every New Yorker must have safety and
dignity and belonging, where they work,
study, play, live and worship,” Ho said. “Th is
is the time — not for divisiveness — this is
the time for us to have unity.”
Rabbi Ashie Schreier of the Young Israel
of Forest Hills thanked elected offi cials and
the NYPD for their continuing eff orts to
keep communities safe during the “wave
of hate” and condemned all forms of bias
attacks.
Referring to his synagogue, he said, “We
are a place of openness. We love everybody,
and we want to make sure that everyone
feels safe in every capacity.”
Satnam Singh Parhar, acting president
and chair of South Asian American Voice
and candidate for City Council District 23,
said his community was afraid because of
the rise in hate crimes and asked everyone
to “start working together to grow toward
peace and positivity.”
Councilman Barry Grodenchik had a
simple message for “the haters.”
“You lost,” Grodenchik said. “We live
together. We go to school together. We ride
the bus, the subway and the Long Island
Rail Road together. We play together in the
parks. Our kids go to school together. And
sometimes we fall in love with each other.
And we are not going away,” Grodenchik
promised.
Tazmin Uddin, youth program director
of Turning Point for Women and Families,
introduced herself as the proud daughter
of immigrants. She called the substantial
increase in hate crimes in New York
City “unacceptable,” citing NYPD statistics
of 191 reported hate crimes in 2021 alone.
Uddin encouraged community members to
look out for each other.
“Communities like mine, the Asian,
Muslim, Sikh or Jewish communities, are
all too familiar with the fear, the trauma,
the uncertainty, the hyper-vigilance that
comes with being under attack,” Uddin
said. “Th eir emotional and mental health
impact of dealing with hate is very real.”
Assemblyman David Weprin also pointed
to the diversity of the elected offi cials
and community leaders at the Unity Rally.
“Th is is what Queens looks like,” Weprin
said. Weprin, a candidate for comptroller,
stressed that it was important to come
together every time hate “rears its ugly
head” and recognize that “a hate crime
against any one of us is really a hate crime
against all of us.”
Michael Nussbaum, the president of the
Jewish Community Council, shared an
“inconvenient truth” — an uncomfortable
truth people needed to hear.
Nussbaum, the son of Eastern European
Jewish immigrants who escaped the
Holocaust while some of his family members
perished in the concentration camps,
said that there’s “something about the
human condition that breeds hate,” but it’s
taught that children are not born with hate
in their DNA; “they are taught hate.”
He called out Republicans and Democrats
for not condemning the divisive rhetoric
coming from both parties.
“Whenever elected offi cials, who are
looked upon as leaders, spew venom and
hatred, and other elected offi cials don’t call
them out, they are complicit in that hate,”
Nussbaum said. “When one person spews
hate against a nation or against an individual,
or claims incorrectly what happens in
the world, it incites people to hate.”
He emphasized that he’ll march with any
group that faces racist attacks.
“I will march with anyone, and bring
the Jewish community to you, to your
mosques, to your temples, to your homes,
because I expect that you will do it with
me,” Nussbaum said.
Councilman James Gennaro followed
up on the remarks made by Michael
Nussbaum and said that the country needed
more leaders like Richards who bring
people together, and underlined that if
comments made by political leaders could
be interpreted as hateful, “you’re not doing
your job.”
He said that hate starts at home.
“We can’t replace what goes on in the
home,” Gennaro said. “So we here as leaders
have to be more like Donovan and more
like the people here, and teach a message.”
Dr. John Boyd II, the senior pastor of the
New Greater Bethel Ministries, called on
everyone to “put away the fl ames of separation”
and to declare “a new season in time
to join together to make the community of
Queens, the ‘World’s Borough,’ a place of
harmony, love and peace.”
Speaking on behalf of the LGBTQI+ community,
Brendan Fay, the founder of the
LGBT group Lavender and Green Alliance
and St. Pat’s for All, said that New York has
a history of hate, bias and prejudice.
But, Fay added that life in New York City
compels people to leave the comfort of
“old, tired ways” and to embrace the city’s
diversity.
“Together, let us remove hate from our
hearts, guns from our streets, prejudice
from our curriculum,” Fay said. “We are
shaped by this beautiful city of New York,
as the city of hope and possibility. We commit
to helping our city.”
“We’re here to continue to stand against
hate. We can never get too tired to stand
up against hate.”
— Donovan Richards
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Queens community leaders and elected offi cials attend the Unity Rally at Queens Borough Hall.
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