anti-Asian
New PBS documentary narrated by Sandra Oh explores Atlanta spa shootings and rise of anti-Asian hate
- “Rising Against Asian Hate,” narrated by Sandra Oh, honors the victims of the March 16, 2021, shooting and delves deep into the rise of anti-Asian racism and the activism that fights to stop the hate.
- The one-hour documentary features interviews with Robert Peterson, the son of Yong Ae Yue, who was killed in the Atlanta spa shootings.
- Politicians, including former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams, Rep. Grace Meng (D, NY-6) and others, are also featured in the documentary.
- “Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March” is set to premiere on Oct. 17.
A new documentary which explores the continued violence against the AAPI community two years after the shooting spree at three Atlanta spas that left eight people dead, including six Asian women, will be narrated by Emmy-nominated actress Sandra Oh.
“Rising Against Asian Hate” honors the victims of the March 16, 2021, shooting and delves deep into the rise of anti-Asian racism and the activism that fights it.
SF DA Brooke Jenkins to review anti-Asian attacks reported under ousted predecessor Chesa Boudin
- San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins will reportedly review anti-Asian cases filed during the term of Chesa Boudin.
- Jenkins, who replaced Boudin after a landslide recall election in June, will begin with 12 cases that were initially investigated as hate crimes — before all but two were dropped as such.
- The district attorney has reportedly tasked veteran trial prosecutor and former Deputy California Attorney General Nancy Tung to lead the review.
- In response, Boudin slammed the move as a ruse, saying “playing politics” with charging decisions based on the law “will not make the city safer.”
The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office will reportedly review several anti-Asian cases filed during the term of Chesa Boudin, potentially paving the way for hate crime charges.
Brooke Jenkins, who replaced Boudin after a landslide recall election, will begin with 12 cases reviewed by the San Francisco Standard and KQED in June, according to NBC News. All 12 cases were initially investigated as hate crimes, but only two were charged as such.
‘Go back to China’: Vancouver restaurant owner yelled at, spat on by woman who let her dog pee on his door
- Edward Hur, who has been running Nobu Sushi in North Vancouver, Canada, for 19 years, said he was yelled at and spat on during a woman’s anti-Asian tirade last week.
- Hur said it all started after he confronted the woman for letting her dog pee on his front door.
- The woman allegedly told Hur “I hate Asian people” and that he should “go back to your country, back to your China.”
- Hur, who is Korean, said the woman had let her dog pee on his business several times in the past, but she just “never listens” when confronted.
- North Vancouver police are now investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
A long-time restaurant owner in North Vancouver, Canada, has come forward to share a racist experience involving a woman who had told him to “go back to China.”
The incident, which was caught on video, reportedly occurred at Nobu Sushi in the 3000 block of Edgemont Boulevard sometime between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. last Friday.
Texas man sentenced for sending anti-Asian death threat to doctor who advocates for COVID vaccine
- Texas resident Scott Eli Harris, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for sending a threatening message to Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and CNN medical analyst known for advocating the COVID-19 vaccine.
- In his message, Harris swore by his “12 gauge” that he will never take Wen’s “wonder drug” and identified himself as “a 5th generation U.S. Army veteran and a sniper” who “can’t wait for the shooting to start.”
- Harris’ message also referenced the Asian American physician’s race and national origin, according to the Justice Department.
- Harris’ defenders said he “sincerely apologizes” for the harm he has caused but pointed out that he was “in the throes of undiagnosed, service-related mental illness” at the time of his offense.
A Texas man has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for sending a threatening message to a Maryland doctor known for advocating the COVID-19 vaccine.
The text message sent by Scott Eli Harris, 52, also referenced the Asian American physician’s race and national origin, according to the Justice Department.
Man wanted for knife and brick attack in DC on group of Asians he told to ‘Go back to your country’
The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington, D.C., is looking for a man accused of attacking three Asians with racial slurs, a knife and a brick in an unhinged early morning chase on Aug. 18.
The trio of Northern Virginia residents was walking westbound in the 1400 block of K Street NW when the man asked to speak with one of them, authorities said.
That’s so not fetch: Tina Fey’s allegedly ‘anti-Asian’ jokes go viral on TikTok
- Tina Fey is facing backlash after a TikTok user uploaded videos showing instances where the actor-screenwriter made jokes targeting Asian people.
- A clip from a 2014 interview with Jimmy Fallon is shown in one of the videos, where Fey is heard comparing her then 2-year-old daughter’s speech mannerisms with those of “a prostitute in a Vietnam movie.”
- TikTok user @Buiside, who uploaded the videos, also pointed out instances of similar offensive jokes in projects that Fey wrote and/or starred in including “Mean Girls” (2004), “Sisters” (2015) and “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (2015).
- “If you want to know why racism is so normalized in the U.S., it’s because of people like her. And how she portrays Asian people in her media. It’s disrespectful,” he said.
Tina Fey is facing backlash after TikTok videos showing the comedian-actor making Asian people the butt of her jokes and purportedly normalizing anti-Asian racism went viral.
TikTok user @Buiside uploaded the videos earlier this month.
Orange County NAACP president resigns citing alleged anti-Asian racism
- Dr. Vanessa Toolsie, president of the Orange County branch of the NAACP, announced her resignation on Sunday via Facebook post, alleging anti-Asian racism from the organization.
- At the helm for only six months, Toolsie cited internal sabotage in the form of neglected emails and deliberate misinformation, exclusion from their annual gala and repeated attacks regarding her Indian heritage in meetings and emails as main issues.
- John Cummings, communication, press and publicity chairperson for the branch, responded by saying they were “concerned about this person and the charges that were made,” and that they “don’t want to overlook or dehumanize or, in any way, cause anybody problems or concern intentionally or unintentionally,”
- Toolsie first joined the organization as a volunteer before working her way up the leadership ladder, helping helm initiatives such as the creation of a liaison program between the AAPI community and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The president of the Orange County branch of the NAACP announced her resignation on Sunday in a Facebook post, accusing the organization of anti-Asian racism.
Dr. Vanessa Toolsie, the first South Asian leader of the organization, held the post for less than six months. She was first elected as vice president in 2021.
Portland man behind series of anti-Asian attacks charged with third bias incident for assault and robbery
- Dylan Kesterson, 34, is now facing a total of 23 charges after it was discovered that authorities had also linked him to a third bias incident in July in Portland, Oregon.
- In addition to being accused of attacking a Japanese father and his 5-year-old daughter on July 2 and assaulting three female victims – one of whom was identified as a Filipino woman – on April 17, Kesterson was accused of robbing, threatening and physically injuring a person in a racially motivated attack on April 9.
- Kesterson was charged with first-degree bias crime, second-degree theft, third-degree robbery and fourth-degree assault for this third incident.
- Kaito Nakajima, a Japanese man studying English in Portland, Oregon, also came forward in July to accuse Kesterson of a bias incident near a Safeway branch at Southwest 10th Avenue and Jefferson Street on June 25.
- “Maybe the F-word, so dirty words, and after that I was slapped, [on] my cheek two times,” Nakajima told KGW8 in July. “My hat was stolen after that and the guy go away, somewhere. He ran off.”
- Kesterson is being held without bail and is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 24.
A Portland man linked to two recent anti-Asian attacks is facing another set of charges for a third bias incident that reportedly occurred in April.
Dylan Kesterson, 34, is facing a total of 23 charges after KGW8 learned on Tuesday that he was involved in a bias incident on April 9. Court documents reportedly revealed that he robbed, threatened and physically injured a person in what authorities described as a racially motivated attack.
California’s Siskiyou County accused of discrimination against Asian Americans in new class action lawsuit
- A federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in San Francisco accuses California’s Siskiyou County and Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue of racial harassment against the Asian American community.
- Asian American residents in Siskiyou County have been harassed by deputies through traffic stops, wrongly accused of criminal activity and discriminated against in public meetings, according to the class action suit filed on Wednesday.
- County officials have since denied any racial bias against Asian Americans; however, a controversy surrounding the June 2021 fatal shooting of Soobleej Kaub Hawj, a 35-year-old Hmong farmer, has escalated tensions.
- Siskiyou County is home to fewer than 45,000 people, with Asian American residents only representing 1.6 percent of the county.
California’s Siskiyou County and Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue are accused of racial harassment against the Asian American community in a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.
The federal lawsuit claims the county and its sheriff engaged “in a sweeping campaign to harass and intimidate Hmong and other Asian Americans.”
Historic Chinese garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown greeted by anti-Asian slurs first thing in the morning
- An Asian staffer at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown reportedly fell victim to an anti-Asian tirade before the garden opened on Saturday morning.
- The alleged attacker, a man who blocked the garden’s entrance with several bags of bottles, used expletives and called the Asian man “ch*nk,” according to another staff member.
- The garden, regarded as the first full-sized classical Chinese garden built outside China, has been targeted by vandalism throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen incidents of people urinating and defecating in its entrance.
A historic Chinese garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown reportedly fell victim to an early morning anti-Asian tirade on Saturday, with staff members claiming that the perpetrator said one racial slur “like an angry mantra.”
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, regarded as the first full-sized classical Chinese garden built outside China, is no stranger to similar attacks, having dealt with incidents of vandalism throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Got to get my nails done by the ch*nks’: Queens College official accused of using anti-Asian slur
- Deborah Huggins, who was recently appointed Queens College’s interim public safety director in New York City, allegedly called College President Frank Wu a “ch*nk” and referenced “corona,” according to an ongoing petition.
- Huggins allegedly made the remark after Wu became the first Asian American to hold the position in April 2020.
- The petition seeks the reinstatement of the college’s former security director, Anastasia Koutsidis, who was allegedly dismissed after being “unfairly cast as a racist” in connection with a winter break incident.
- Aside from using an anti-Asian slur, Huggins is accused of demanding Muslim employees to stop wearing head coverings, barred employees of certain ethnic groups from microwaving their food due to “offensive” smells and saying “I hate house rats” in the presence of a Hispanic security guard.
A safety official at New York City’s Queens College is in hot water for allegedly using an anti-Asian slur and other offensive remarks toward several ethnic groups.
Deborah Huggins, who was recently appointed Queen College’s interim public safety director, allegedly made the anti-Asian comment about Frank Wu, who became the institution’s first Asian American president in April 2020. Huggins is African American.
Brooklyn couple receives Marriott Hotel invoice with typewritten anti-Asian slur
- Jamie Chung, 37, and his girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer, 35, received an invoice from the Courtyard by Marriott in York City, Pennsylvania, with an anti-Asian racial slur typewritten on their bill.
- “They’d written the racial slur ‘Ching and Chong’ on it. Pretty bold and brazen,” Chung tells NextShark.
- The couple informed Marriott executives about the incident. While their contact apologized, they were unable or unwilling to answer questions regarding the details of the sensitivity training they claimed to have implemented.
- Marriott has not released a statement regarding the racist incident.
- The couple hopes for the international hotel company to take accountability and understand the culture of racism they uphold when a racist situation is taken lightly.
A Brooklyn couple who checked into a Marriott Hotel in Pennsylvania received an invoice with an anti-Asian slur.
Jamie Chung, 37, and his girlfriend Tierney Oberhammer, 35, stayed the night at the Courtyard by Marriott on Concord Road in the city of York on June 13. Following their stay, they received an invoice through email with an anti-Asian racial slur typewritten on their bill.
