New Yorkers Rally Behind Asian American Neighbors After Recent Attacks: ‘Everyone Should Be Loved’

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The NYPD has stepped up security in Asian communities across New York City, as local officials and community members speak out against the violence in Atlanta.

A group of leaders is expected to rally at the National Action Network headquarters Thursday in Harlem to denounce the rise of attacks on Asian Americans.

“How much more can our community take?” one person said during another rally Wednesday.

“We are beyond sad. We are angry, we are frustrated,” another person added.

On Wednesday night, a group came together at Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens. Clutching candles, carrying signs and placing flowers on the ground, they called for change and said enough” with the hate.

One woman brought her daughter, Sally.

“I want to show her that it’s important to stand up for ourselves. We have to tell everyone we should be loved, everyone should be loved. This is not OK,” she told CBS2.

For much of the pandemic, Asian Americans say they’ve had to endure anti-Asian rhetoric, made worse by former President Donald Trump’s words.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called the Atlanta-area shootings “domestic terrorism” and ramped up security in local Asian communities.

“To see this hatred, to see it takes such a violent form, is extraordinarily distressing,” he said Wednesday. “We all need to understand the pain that Asian Americans are going through right now.”

Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate, the nation’s leading group addressing anti-Asian discrimination, says the organization has received more than 3,700 reports of racism since last March.

Congresswoman Grace Meng said in a tweet, “we cannot move forward, we cannot heal, until our country reckons with and stops AAPI hate.”

“Just walking down the street, you just feel like people think and look at you differently now,” said Gloria Mak, of Staten Island.

“That’s why we have two people go together — go home early, working early,” Kelly Yang, who works in Chinatown, said.

The group in Queens encouraged people to call their elected officials to demand more meaningful action.

source https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/03/18/new-yorkers-rally-behind-asian-american-neighbors/