Hogan and Ball meet with Ellicott City businesses amid rise of anti-Asian violence
MarylandGov.LarryHogan,firstlady YumiHoganandHowardCountyExecutive Calvin Ball spent Monday afternoon visiting “Korean Way” in Ellicott City and meeting with Asian American business and community leaders after incidentsofviolenceagainstAsianAmericans have been on the rise.
Six Asian American women were gunned down at spas in Atlanta last week.A21-year-oldwhitemanisaccused of killing four people inside two Atlanta spas and four others at a massage business about 30 miles away in suburban Cherokee County on March 16. Authorities have said the man claimed to have a “sex addiction” and apparently lashed out at what he saw as sources of temptation.
However,themassshootingshaveleft many Asian Americans across Howard County, the state and the country feeling targeted,especiallyasanti-Asianrhetoric has spread over the past year with some people using slurs such as “China virus” in reference to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
At the Princess Shopping Center on Route 40, the Hogans and Ball walked fromstorefronttostorefrontvisitingand talking local Asian American and Pacific Islander business owners.
“Korean Way” is a state-designated, 5-mile stretch along the Baltimore National Pike that is home to approximately 166 Korean businesses. Asian American people account for 18% of HowardCounty’spopulationandnearly 7% of the state population.
Hogan announced Monday that he directedtheMarylandStatePoliceandall statelawenforcementagenciestoimmediatelyincreasetheirenhancedvisibility patrolsandprovideincreasedprotection for members of the Asian community.
“Sadly, many have been victims of much worse than just hateful words and emotional abuse,” Hogan said at the event.
Hogan shared a personal story of his youngest daughter being afraid to drive andvisithimandYumibecauseafriend’s mother was attacked at a gas station
recently.
“Our country is being torn apart by those who would seek to divide and separate us solely based on our identities,” Hogan said. “The hate behind this is not driven by patriotism; it’s driven by an irrational and misplaced xenophobic fear of the other.”
Hogan also pushed Congress to pass legislation to improve and fund data collecting and reporting of hate crimes against Asian Americans, which he said has been done in Maryland.
“I’m here to lift up the voices of Asian Americans,” said Yumi Hogan, who also spoke at the event and is Korean American. “Our stories are American stories, American stories are our stories.”
On Monday, more than 100 people gathered in Baltimore City’s Charles North
Dozens of people also gathered at a rally Sunday evening in Ellicott City hosted by the Chinese American Parent Association of Howard County to remember the Atlanta victims and raise awarenessabouthatecrimescommitted in Howard County.
InHowardCounty,burglarsstrucksix businesses — four of them Asian-owned restaurants — on the Lunar New Year in February. A police spokesperson said investigators have no evidence that the
burglarstargetedtherestaurantsbecause of the owners’ race.
Those events were on the minds of many during the visit.
“It’s our collective responsibility to call out and stop the spread of this antiAsian rhetoric because we know if left untreated it only festers, grows and spreads,” Ball said. “Everyone deserves to not only feel safe but be safe.”
NutchanatBuakhum,ownerofEattini Thai Kitchen in the Princess Shopping Center, was one of the business owners who spoke with the Hogans and Ball.
Buakhumsaidshehasbeenattackedat thebackofherrestaurantwhileunpacking groceries at least 10 times in the past few months. She said a few times people threw nails at her.
“We keep quiet because it’s scary,” Buakhum said. “If you report it or something else, it draws attention.”
Shemadeascheduleforwhentodrop supplies off at the restaurant, closing early to try to avoid problems. She also installed a camera at the front entrance in June and has purchased a gun.
She’s no longer accepting cash as a formofpaymentatherrestauranteither, saying she’s scared to carry cash around becausesomeonemightattackheragain.
“Any way I can save myself I need to,” Buakhum said.