ATLANTA – After a week of pain, fear and mourning, the Georgian capital hosted a demonstration and demonstration in the city center on Saturday to protest the murder of eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, by a sniper. targeted three massage companies in the Atlanta area.
Hundreds of activists shouted, “Stop Asian hatred” as they left Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta, bound for the State Capitol, where they would join hundreds more for a rally after a wave of shootings that left eight dead.
The demonstration started after a series of speeches and went through the sidewalks of the city center, passing the film sets and the public transport station.
Activating pickets and using megaphones, activists shouted messages such as: “Asians are not a virus”.
The protest was announced as a #StopAsianHate event that would allow people to “come together to mourn, heal and support”.
Around noon, the Woodruff Park crowd joined hundreds of people gathered at Liberty Plaza, in the shadow of Georgia’s Gold Dome.
State Representative Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Georgia legislature, lamented on Saturday that the victims of the shootings “had no one in their community to look after their backs, and we were left with deep anger, regret and sadness. “Lawmakers, she said, must enact changes to ensure that such a tragedy never recurs.
Senator Raphael Warnock said, “We need a reasonable weapon reform.” He added that stronger laws against hate crimes are needed.
Senator Jon Ossoff echoed these sentiments, adding: “We are going to build a state and nation where you can register to vote on election day, but you cannot buy a gun the day you plan to kill.”
At Liberty Plaza, many people who were there said that this was the first protest. Before Tuesday, Elisa Park, 54, of Marietta kept her head down when she heard or experienced an anti-Asian feeling.
“I was silent for a while, you know, sweep, keep your head down, work hard,” she said. “But not this time.”
Ms. Park said she came to the rally to pressure lawmakers to stop violence against Asians. Mrs. Park added that she was not the only one who had lived in fear since the shooting. Her co-workers and single friends of Asian descent, she said, are afraid to just walk the dog alone.
This is Mrs. Park’s first protest. Her aunt feared for her safety, Park said. She did not know what to expect, but she was moved by the sea of people who demonstrated in support.
“It’s not just Asians here, there are African Americans, whites, Latinos,” she said. “It is really empowering.”
Saturday was also the first protest by Hemming Li, 11, and also by his mother, Wen Zhou, 40, from Forsyth County.
The two, as well as Hemming’s father, a family friend and a 6-year-old sister, took an hour-long drive to the rally to express their anger at Tuesday’s acts of violence and the handling of police.
Increased attacks against Asian Americans
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- Eight people, including six women of Asian descent, were killed in shootings at massage parlors in Atlanta. The suspect’s motives are being investigated, but Asian communities in the United States are on alert because of an increase in attacks against Asian Americans in the past year.
- A torrent of hatred and violence against Asian Americans in the United States began last spring, in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Community leaders say the prejudice was fueled by the rhetoric of former President Trump, who referred to the coronavirus as the “China virus”.
- In New York, a wave of xenophobia and violence has been exacerbated by the economic consequences of the pandemic, which has dealt a severe blow to New York’s Asian-American communities. Many community leaders say that racist attacks are being ignored by the authorities.
- In January, an 84-year-old man from Thailand was violently thrown to the ground in San Francisco, resulting in his death in a hospital two days later. The attack, captured on video, became a rallying cry.
Hemming and his sister held up posters that they had made together days before, that said, “Stop hating Asians” in blue marker.
Zhou said he would never have imagined protesting with his family, but the murders of Asian immigrant mothers hit close to home.
“The event that happened recently makes us feel insecure,” she said.
The protest comes a day after President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited leaders of the Asian American community in a city that is still suffering from Tuesday’s attacks. “We were reminded, once again, that the crises we face are many – that the enemies we face are many,” Harris said in a speech after the meeting on Friday.
She added: “Racism is real in America and it always has been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism too. “
Mr. Biden noted that the investigation into the attack was ongoing and that he and Mrs. Harris were being “updated regularly” by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Christopher A. Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Whatever the motivation, we know this: many Asian Americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying, waking up every morning for the past year feeling that their safety and that of their loved ones is at stake,” he said. Biden said in his own remarks.
At the rally on Saturday, Jane Zhong, 60, of East Cobb, a protester for the first time, used a white tea flower as part of a Chinese tradition to honor those who passed away.
For Ms. Zhong, the death of one of the victims of the spa shooting, Xiaojie Tan, struck very close to home. Both are Chinese immigrants and mothers with a daughter who graduated from college last year.
“I knew I had to show up,” she said.
Ms. Zhong, who heard about the demonstration through WeChat, a Chinese messaging service, said, “I am here to express my anger.”