Community unites to speak out against crimes targeting Asians
Atlanta slayings spur call to end racism and hate
For Christina Lew, it’s hard to talk about growing up Chinese in San Antonio.
In grade school, kids would make fun of the authentic meals her mother packed lovingly for her, or use their fingers to slant their eyelids. When she worked at a restaurant, customers would joke about her opening a Chinese restaurant.
Just a couple of years ago, while waiting for a shuttle, someone shouted at her, “Let me have a taste of your fried rice.” Scared by the incident, Lew confided in a friend — who laughed.
“I think the problem is other people don’t see what they’re saying as racist,” she said. “They brush it off as just something funny to say, when in actuality, it does hurt.”
Lew, her daughter and mother were in the crowd of hundreds who gathered Saturday evening in Main Plaza, showing their support and solidarity with fellow community members at a vigil against anti-asian hate crimes and racism.
The event, organized by 2020 Democratic congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, came after local restaurant Noodle Tree was vandalized last weekend with anti-asian hate speech.
Noodle Tree owner Mike Nguyen was unable to attend the vigil due to death threats, Ortiz Jones said.
Last week, a gunman attacked three Atlanta spas, killing eight people — six of whom were women of Asian descent.
Kin Hui, the president of the Asian American Alliance of San Antonio, called the deaths “tragic.”
“These killings have placed Asian Americans in greater fear for our own safety and for the safety of our family and friends,”
Hui said. “Each of us has the responsibility to call out and report racism; end injustice when we see it.”
“Racism and hate have no place in our society, and it must be swept away,” Hui added.
Lew, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance San Antonio Lodge, said she hasn’t spoken much of her personal experiences to her 9-year-old daughter, Janessa, but she spoke to her before the event, explaining the racially charged shootings and encouraging her daughter — and reminding herself — to use their voices in times of adversity.
Lew’s mother, 59-yearold Margaret Lew, who came to the United States from Hong Kong, is all too familiar with the insults and hurtful remarks.
“I don’t remember much of Hong Kong,” said Margaret Lew, noting she moved to Texas when she was just 6 years old. “I consider myself a Texan.”
From March 2020 to the end of February 2021, there were 3,795 hate crimes reported against Asian Americans — or about 10 a day on average — according to Stop APPI Hate’s national report.
Myra Dumapias, a lead community organizer with Asian American and Pacific Islanders for Justice San Antonio, said it’s vital for the community to speak up against objectification.
“We’re not just fetishes, we’re not just cooks ... We’re not just decoration,” Dumapias said. “We’re people with a voice.”
Kyle Huang, a senior at Brandeis High School and member of the San Antonio Chinese Alliance, added Asian Americans “are not your punchlines or your scapegoats.”
“We are humans,” he said. “This is our country, and we matter.”
Local community leaders such as Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Police Chief William Mcmanus and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro also spoke at the rally, denouncing the hate shown toward Noodle Tree and to the eight killed in the recent Atlanta shootings.
Hui held up a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to 30,000 Chinese American veterans in World War II and reminded the crowd: “America is our home. We’re not going anywhere.”
To report a hate incident, go to Stopaapihate.org. Hate crimes also can be reported to San Antonio police. Call 210-207-7273 for more information.