San Francisco’s Asian American community has mobilized in recent weeks in response to a series of anti-Asian hate attacks. Rallies across the city were held [1] to send a clear message that the community was united against hate.
[2]
On September 6, San Francisco resident, Vicky Chau said her dad was taking his usual morning stroll in the Portola District when he spotted a home spraypainted with the words, “No More Chinese,” in large orange letters. The attack in Portola was preceeded by racist graffiti spray painted on the home of tech entrepreneur Justin Kan.
Vicky Chau posted a picture of the defaced home on Facebook and within hours, users replied with similar images of anti-Asian graffiti found elsewhere in the same neighborhood - six offenses in total. The post was shared over 2,000 times, and spread to other blogs, along with a thread of outraged comments that spurred the community to take action.
According to CBS San Francisco, police acted swiftly to apprehend suspect John Schenone, charging him with five counts of felony hate crime and five counts of felony vandalism.
"As you know the Chinese community as well as the community in which these incidents happen are rallying around their Chinese brothers and sisters. This is a very diverse city. We will not tolerate this type of crime in the city," said San Francisco Police Department Official, Grace Gatpandan.
[3]Immediately after the arrest, Asian community leaders and organizations, the SF District Attorney’s office, SFPD and SF Supervisors joined local citizens in a show of support against racism, hate and bigotry. Hundreds gathered near Chinatown and Palega Park on Thursday, Sept 10 to denounce the suspect and condemn racism. Some neighbors even showed support for their diverse neighbors by painting over the “No” in the tag so it would read, “More Chinese" or adding a heart to say, “Love More Chinese.”
Silence didn’t hold in San Francisco
“In the wake of a hate crime, it is not the hateful words of an individual that terrify a targeted community, but the deafening silence of the majority that allows the words to continue to echo on," said SF Police Commissioner and former hate crime prosecutor Victor Hwang.
[2]
“Asian Americans, artists, and others stepped up immediately to muffle the impact of the words," said Hwang. "By creatively flipping the message, San Franciscans stepped up to let the Chinese community know that the sentiment expressed by a single individual was not reflective of the broader community.”
Asian Americans in San Francisco have raised their voices in support of each other. How can the rest of the residents of San Francisco, and communities everywhere stand up together so that an attack on one group of us becomes an attack on all?