Archive for the ‘Al Sharpton’ Category

Trump and the GOP put a bull’s-eye on the backs of Asian Americans – GoErie.com

Kurt Bardella| Los Angeles Times

Attacks on Asian Americans spike again amid pandemic

Asian Americans have been victims of increased violence and harassment since the coronavirus pandemic began, but recent attacks have prompted some to "hunker down" again.

USA TODAY, USA TODAY

A new report released by Stop AAPI Hate revealed that since March 19, 2020, there have been 3,795 hate incidents targeting Asian Americans. That figure barely scratches the surface as most hate crimes go unreported. The rash of violence is becoming a daily event.

The most recent occurred March 16 in the Atlanta area where a white man is suspected of shooting and killing six Asian women.

On March 9, Nancy Toh, an 83-year-old grandmother, was assaulted by a man who spit in her face and then punched her in the nose in Westchester, New York.

The day before, a woman was charged with a crime for spitting at an Asian American man and yelling an ethnic slur at him as he dined outdoors in Silicon Valley.

On March 15, a white women in New York City verbally assaulted an Asian American couple yelling from a cab, "Go back to [expletive] communist China you [expletive]."

I remember being made fun of when I was a kid in elementary school for looking different. For the shape and slant of my eyes. I remember the taunts, the "ching" and "chong" refrains. It affected me so that for so many years after, I effectively rejected my South Korean heritage. It was something I felt ashamed about. Something I hid from. Something I wanted nothing to do with it. Something that confused me.

What I didn't know then which I do now was that those taunts to make me feel inferior because of my physical appearance were acts of hate and they were learned behaviors the kids picked up from their parents. What kind of person teaches another that it's OK to attack someone in this way?

I never imagined back then that such hate would be so openly triggered by the leader of a political party, but that's where we are today.

In 1854, the California Supreme Court ruled that testimony from Chinese Americans was inadmissible because they "were a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point."

More: COVID fallout: Biden wants to stop, not stoke, racism against Asian Americans like me

That kind of thinking seems to be alive and well today, egged on by the Republican Party. Last September, 164 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against a resolution authored by Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., to condemn racism against Asian Americans. It was a sobering reminder of how mainstream bigotry against the Asian American Pacific Islander community has become in the Republican Party. Meng reintroduced the resolution in late February.

Recently, former President Donald Trump issued a statement where he once again used the phrase "China virus," which has inflamed hatred toward Asian Americans since the pandemic began. In their effort to find a scapegoat for the coronavirus, Republicans effectively put a bull's-eye on the backs of our community. The result is this torrent of violence.

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If you look like me, you've almost certainly been told to "go back to China" by a white person at some point in your life. I think I've been told that so many times throughout my life that on some level I've become numb to it. But the more I think about that, the angrier I get. What does it say about this country that in the year 2021 a person can become so conditioned to outward displays of racism that he stops reacting to it?

Not anymore.

More: Visual timeline: What happened at Atlanta spa shootings

No more suffering in silence. No more waiting our turn. We're speaking out. We're mobilizing. No matter who you are, where you're from, we need you to be part of the #StopAsianHate movement. As the Rev. Al Sharpton put it the other day, "You can't stop hate against anyone unless you fight hate against everyone."

Kurt Bardella, a Korean American, is a contributing writer to Los Angeles Times Opinion, amember of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors and aformer Republican. He was spokesperson and senior adviser for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from 2009 to 2013.

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Trump and the GOP put a bull's-eye on the backs of Asian Americans - GoErie.com

CPC Joins #StopAsianHate Actions with City and Community Leaders – cpc-nyc.org

CPC joined community and city leaders theweekof March 16th to condemn the rise in anti-Asian hate and violenceand to mourn the loss of 8 lives during a mass shooting inAtlanta.

CPC leadership and staff attended press conferences and a vigil hosted by Asian American Federation on Friday, March 19th.President and CEO Wayne Ho spoke with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and other leaders to denounce hate. See coverage of that press event on CBS here,fromPix11 here, and in Brooklyn Paper here.

Unfortunately, in the last year, I have had staff who have been spat on, who have been beat up, had things thrown at them, had racial slurs told to them, said Wayne Ho.

If weve learned anything in the last year as were marching for Black lives, the police is not only the answer. We need to have restorative justice, we dont need incarceration at this time. What we need right now are resources from the state and from the city. Asian Americans make up 15% of New York City, 10% of New York State but we get less than 1% of New York City social service contract dollars.

Also on Friday, Mitch Wu, CPC Director of Queens Community Services, spoke at thepress conference organized by the Flushing Chinese Business Association with the NYPD 109th Precinct to condemn anti-Asian violence. State Senator John Liu, Council Member Peter Koo, and community leaders also spoke at the press conference. Thank you to Peter Tu for organizing this event. Wayne also joined Borough President Eric Adams on Sunday, March 21st at a press conference. See a video of the Brooklyn press conference here (starting at 36:00).

Earlier in the week, Wayne joined mayoral candidates and community leaders at a press conference hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network. See video of the press conferenceon Twitter here.

CPC commits to #StopAsianHate and advocates for more resources and support for our communities, including Asian lead and Asian-serving providers. Follow our actions as they happen on Twitter and Instagram, and by subscribing to our emails here.

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CPC Joins #StopAsianHate Actions with City and Community Leaders - cpc-nyc.org

Anti-Asian Attacks Place Andrew Yang in the Spotlight. How Will He Use It? – The New York Times

Mr. Yang was not, however, the first contender to condemn the Georgia shootings, tweeting late that night instead about a St. Patricks Day scarf, in a move that struck some observers as tone deaf. (He later said that he had not seen the news on Tuesday. He issued a series of tweets about Atlanta on Wednesday morning, before making public remarks.)

On Thursday, Mr. Yangs voice appeared to waver with emotion as he spoke at an event convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader. Speaking in starkly personal terms, Mr. Yang discussed the importance of seeing that Asian-Americans are human beings, Asian-Americans are just as American as anyone else.

Im glad that hes leaning in, said Representative Grace Meng, the only Asian-American member of New Yorks congressional delegation. I felt like he was getting a little emotional. And I think that the Asian-American community likes to see more of that.

Jo-Ann Yoo, the executive director of New Yorks Asian American Federation, said there were signs that Mr. Yang was connecting in particular with younger Asian-American voters.

Theyve said, well, nobody has invited us, drawn us into politics, we dont see ourselves reflected in any of these spaces, she said. If those are the reasons Asian-American young people are not engaging, I think Yangs done a pretty good job of leading the conversations and drawing young people in.

But, she added, Other non-Asian candidates should not assume that Asians only vote for Asians.

Interviews with around a dozen community leaders, elected officials and voters suggest that the candidates who are best-known to Asian-American New Yorkers include Mr. Yang, a son of Taiwanese immigrants, and two veteran city officials: Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, and Scott M. Stringer, the city comptroller.

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Anti-Asian Attacks Place Andrew Yang in the Spotlight. How Will He Use It? - The New York Times

NY Coronavirus Vaccine Open To People 50 And Over – Patch.com

LONG ISLAND, NY With millions of New Yorkers now vaccinated against the coronavirus and an influx of doses available, New Yorkers 50 and older can receive the vaccine starting Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

Up until Monday, only New Yorkers 60 and older could be vaccinated.

While the vaccine supply hasn't increased enough yet to vaccinate all of those 50 and older in the state, Cuomo said he wants people to start making appointments so they are ready when more doses arrive.

Cuomo, speaking from the Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, announced a new vaccination center at the facility and said to date, 7 million New Yorkers have received a vaccine.

He announced the "Roll Up Your Sleeve" campaign, a partnership with faith-based facilities to vaccinate people at houses of worship. Rev. Al Sharpton joined Cuomo in announcing the campaign.

"We are fighting for our very lives," Sharpton said. "All we ask you is to come to a house of faith and roll up your sleeves and do it for your loved ones."

The leaders stressed the importance of Black and Hispanic communities getting the vaccine. Black people are twice as likely to die of the coronavirus and Hispanic people are 1.5 times as likely to die, officials have said.

On Sunday, New Yorkers with underlying health conditions became eligible to receive the vaccine.

"New Yorkers with comorbidities are among our state's most at-risk residents, and access to the COVID-19 vaccine protects this vulnerable population as we work to defeat the virus and establish the new normal," Cuomo said. "As New York receives more doses and more people receive the vaccine, we're able to expand the population pharmacies can serve, and this is a common-sense step forward that will help make it easier to protect New Yorkers."

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NY Coronavirus Vaccine Open To People 50 And Over - Patch.com

Morning Briefing: Biden Press Conference, Cuomo’s Latest Scandal, and the Racism of the Filibuster – Pajiba

Good morning. Joe Biden will hold his first press conference today. The cable-news media, which really doesnt have much of anything scandal-worthy to report these days, outside of the Governors mansion in New York and the litany of crimes involving the previous administration, will probably try and make it about Biden gaffes. If he flubs a word or three as he often does Tucker Carlson will spend half an hour on his show tonight talking about how hes unfit for office, never mind that the previous occupant bragged about passing a test for dementia and could barely walk down a ramp. Its all noise. Dont give it a second thought.

The latest scandal against Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, is that he apparently made tests available to his family members (specifically his brother, Chris) before the tests were widely available. That sucks. Also, completely unsurprising, not just for Cuomos office, but for half the Governors offices in the country, at least. Most politicians are trash, even our favorites. I would add, however, that this is a story that probably couldve been unearthed weeks or months ago, and it wouldnt have registered much, but because the news media wants to keep that drumbeat going against Cuomo, its getting extra play. Thats fine with me. I think he should resign. I also think that this is a footnote in todays news cycle, at best.

Voting among Amazon workers in Bessemer, Ala. ends on Monday. Bernie is heading to Alabama tomorrow to meet with the union, and thats probably good, although this is still Alabama. I have no idea how the vote will shake out, but to be honest, I dont really understand why anyone would not vote to unionize when youre dealing with the largest company in the world.

After AstraZeneca was accused of cherry-picking data in its efficacy results, they updated the company analysis and found that the vaccine was 76 percent effective at preventing symptomatic illness, slightly lower than the earlier result of 79 percent.

Mitch McConnell is still working double-time to save the filibuster, arguing on Tuesday that the filibuster has no racial history at all. None. Theres no dispute among historians about that. Thats not true, as this article (among many) shows, and as this Twitter thread shows.

Black civil rights leaders are taking that argument to Democrat holdouts Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, arguing that the filibuster is racist and saying that they are, in effect, supporting racism, Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. Its unclear how effective that will be. Unfortunately, having Al Sharpton come after the Senator from West Virginia is not exactly going to hurt him.

Finally, Dr. Rachel Levine is the new assistant health secretary; she is the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate. Thats great news. Alas, only two Republicans Murkowski and Collins voted to confirm her.

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Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

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Morning Briefing: Biden Press Conference, Cuomo's Latest Scandal, and the Racism of the Filibuster - Pajiba