Recalling Boudin won’t help Asian Americans
In February 2020, over 1,000 people marched through San Francisco’s Chinatown. Under the banner “Fight the Virus, Not the People,” Asian American and Pacific Islanders and their supporters, stood up against a surge of anti-Asian violence and discrimination.
All of us there that day knew why the vitriol and hate was increasing; Donald Trump had fueled anti-Asian violence through his venomous rhetoric, falsely blaming the spread of the coronavirus on Asians and by extension, Asian Americans — all at a time when our communities were already struggling with shelter-in-place, lost wages and a virus that was killing our loved ones.
Two years later, I could not have predicted that the rise in anti-Asian hate would be hijacked and manipulated by supporters of the campaign to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
I have served San Francisco my entire life. For eight years, I was a prosecutor under District Attorney Arlo Smith, followed by 24 years as a judge on San Francisco’s Superior Court. During my tenure on the bench, I started San Francisco’s Domestic Violence Court, and today, although retired, I continue to stay active serving the public by organizing and supporting our communities.
As a leader in the AAPI community of this city, I know this political calculation is wrong and will not make us safer. I would never support a district attorney who did not stand up for our vulnerable community members or the AAPI community. Fortunately, with Boudin, I don’t have to make that choice. He has been there for the AAPI community throughout this difficult time and has worked as hard as any district attorney I’ve observed to meet the challenges facing us today.
During his tenure, Boudin has greatly expanded services to AAPI victims and outreach to our community. He increased the number of Chinese-speaking victims’ advocates from one to seven and hired and promoted Kasie Lee — a multilingual, Chinese American woman — to head his office’s Victim Services Division. He also made it a policy for victims to have access to language services in all court proceedings, not just when they testify, and created an AAPI Elder Steering Committee to better serve our vulnerable elders. Moreover, he recently announced a new AAPI Victims Services Unit, led by Dr. Paul Lam.
Boudin is prosecuting those who have harmed us, seeking hate crimes charges in 17 cases with AAPI victims and prosecuting dozens of other cases of violence against AAPI San Franciscans. He is also implementing important reforms like not trying kids as adults and civil litigation against manufacturers of ghost guns. While critics use scare tactics to malign reforms, I know from my years on the bench, that these actions are critical in breaking the cycle of crime and making our city safer.
That my fellow AAPI San Franciscans are fearful after the heartbreak of the last two years is understandable. AAPI community members in Oakland, Atlanta, New York and every major city across the country feel similarly. Personally, I, too, have experienced racist taunts and insults off the bench and felt that rage and vulnerability.
And years ago, I also learned what it meant to be the victim of a crime.
In 1991, the year I became a judge, I was robbed at knife point in Portsmouth Square. My attacker was never caught. The district attorney at the time was Smith. But I didn’t blame him, or the police, for this attack. I never blamed a district attorney for rising homelessness (which has been a crisis since at least the days of former Mayor Art Agnos). I understand that these problems require serious conversation and real solutions — not pithy soundbites. And certainly not multimillion-dollar campaigns designed to falsely attack one person.
When I talk to my AAPI friends about this election, I tell them how I’ve seen the hard work Boudin and his dedicated team put in every day to support our community. I tell them that of course his office has challenges — that’s been the case under every district attorney. But I also tell my friends that Boudin has brought in dedicated and bright attorneys, some experts in their field, who are working tirelessly to support victims, provide justice and make our city safer.
In 2020, we were unified in denouncing hate. Elected officials including, Boudin stood up in solidarity with the AAPI communities, working to support local businesses and provide resources for residents.
Two years later, we are divided thanks to a dishonest recall campaign.
It’s time to heal. It’s time for justice and real safety. It’s time for unity once again. Join me in rejecting the recall. Vote no on Proposition H.