Last week, my son who is Asian and who was adopted from Kazakhstan as a toddler, was driving home from work when a white man in a big truck pulled alongside him, pulled on the corners of his eyes, called my son a racial slur and told him to “go back where he came from.” Nice. The anti-Asian hate is not subsiding.
Is this patriot enough? – Lee Wong, chairman of the West Chester, Ohio, Township Board of Trustees, condemned anti-Asian violence during an unscripted moment that has gone viral. Wong, who considers himself a moderate Republican, first opened up about coming to the U.S. from Borneo at 18 and the “unfortunate event” that led him to pursue a career in public service. While in Chicago during the 1970s, someone beat him up for being Asian, according to Wong. “We went to court and he never got punished, so that changed the course of my career. I went to the U.S. Army and served 20 years in active duty. For too long, I have put up with a lot of s— in silence, excuse me the language,” Wong said. “Too afraid to speak out, fearing more abuse and discrimination.” “People question my patriotism, that I don’t look American enough,” he said at a recent public meeting. “They can’t get over this face. I want to show you something, I don’t have to live in fear, intimidation, insults … Here is my proof, this is sustained from my service in the U.S. Army, is this patriot enough?” he asked as he showed the scars he received in military service. (New York Times, Journal-News, NPR)
No one helped – An Asian American woman was walking through the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan on Monday morning when a stranger approached. The 65-year-old woman stopped abruptly outside a luxury condo tower, surveillance video shows. Suddenly, the man kicked her in the stomach, knocking her to the sidewalk, and then brutally stomped on her head again and again. All the while, police said, he spewed slurs at her. As the woman was viciously attacked, video appears to show at least three people in the condo’s lobby passively watching the violence. When the attacker walks away, leaving the injured woman prone on the sidewalk, one man — reportedly a security guard — calmly shut the door on her. The Brodsky Organization, the management company for the luxury apartment building, released a statement early Tuesday that said the staff members who witnessed the attack “have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union,” and that it was trying to identify a delivery vendor who was in the lobby. The victim was hospitalized at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan with what the police described as serious injuries. Further information about her condition was not immediately available. (Washington Post, New York Times)
NYPD says 65-year-old Asian American woman was walking to church this morning when suspect assaulted her and said “f*** you, you don’t belong here.” Happened in front of 360 W. 43rd St. 11:40am. Sources say building security guard not only failed to render her aid… 1/2 pic.twitter.com/ZLtQEHHJci
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) March 30, 2021
