Queens ‘Unity Rally’ brings diverse spectrum
of leaders together in light of unwavering hate
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards, elected officials
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. There’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 after 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 officials 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, “This is
what diversity looks like. We
understand our diversity is
our strength.”
He shared that his office
has called for additional
funding of the Office for the
Prevention of Hate Crimes
and that his office continued
to partner with the New
York Commission on Human
Rights, the Queens district attorney’s
office 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 flourishes when we do
not have togetherness. But I
refuse to let us be split.”
Rabbi Mark Kaiserman of
The 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 different, you
TIMESLEDGER | Q 2 NS.COM | JUNE 4-JUNE 10, 2021
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 nonprofit 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. “This 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 officials and
the NYPD for their continuing
efforts 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.”
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. “Their emotional
and mental health impact
of dealing with hate is very
real.”
Assemblyman David Weprin
also pointed to the diversity
of the elected officials
and community leaders at the
Unity Rally.
“This 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.”
Dr. John Boyd II, the senior
pastor of the New Greater
Bethel Ministries, called
on everyone to “put away the
flames 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.”
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards addresses elected officials and community leaders at a
the Unity Rally on May 26. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
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