By Shirley N Lew, AsAmNews Staff Writer
I follow several Asian themed social media groups. What I’ve found has been troubling. I see members posting their detailed incidents of hate crimes on Facebook or Twitter that they, a family member or a friend was involved in. I get that the person posted it as a warning to others, but an incident that could lead to an arrest should be reported to the local police and I fear that may not be happening.
I decided to create my own public service announcement (PSA) to tell Asian Americans why it’s important to report the incident to the local police precinct or to call 911 right away. It has to be documented, because it’s important to protect everyone in the community. I thought about creating the PSA for half a day and decided to just go for it. I felt the need to do it. No script, just talking off the top of my head and my iPhone.
Just imagine if there were two robberies and three incidents of Asians being spat at or attacked in a two week period all within a four block radius. Wouldn’t you think someone is targeting that area or Asians? If none of those incidents were reported, authorities would not know anything about it and nothing would be done.
Since the first US confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID-19, hate crimes towards Asian Americans has risen to a level I have never seen in my lifetime. We are harassed, assaulted, robbed and our property vandalized. Why? Because the outbreak started in Wuhan, China and we’re seen as the cause of COVID-19. When the US President continuously called it the “Chinese virus,” it gave an excuse for many to target us.
This is a reminder of the time Vincent Chin was racially profiled and killed just for being Asian. I was a young teen when Chin was killed by two laid-off auto-workers due to increase Japanese competition in the auto industry. They decided to take their frustration with a baseball bat to Chin’s head whom they thought was Japanese. As an adult, I’ve learned about the impact of Chin’s death and feel there should be another civil rights movement for us now (except that we have a stay at home order) and not wait till another Asian American is killed because of the color of their skin.
I do want to mention that some non-profit organizations are doing great work and have created self-report webpages to collect data on hate crime and other incidents to further their non-profit work, but that does not replace a police report. Those organizations are not reporting your incident to the police on your behalf. Therefore, please report your incident, and report on those self-report webpages if you want to. Please also keep in mind some webpages can be a form of news-gathering and nothing more.
When the stay at home order is lifted, there is a likelihood hate crimes will still be at it’s current level and Asian Americans may still be seen as culprits. However, I hope we will become diligent and fearless in contacting the local police. If you’re afraid to, have a friend call 911 for you, or bring a friend to the local police for support.
You deserve justice just like all Americans, because you matter.
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