AAPI hate, closing in and spreading abroad. A question of how, not if.
Updated: Aug 11, 2021
San Francisco to New York. Down to Georgia. It's only proof that AAPI hate has spread already, far and wide. But, sadly, no longer a question of if it will spread, but rather how far it will spread. Expanding and spreading farther, out of control, out of rage, and out of anger for vulnerable individuals who aren't to be blamed. All over the United States, even excluding those that are not reported. Somewhat far, far, and farther it spreads. Uncontrolled. Disregarded.
Amid the rampant spread comes with hate that hits closer to home. Many AAPI residents of cities with hate incidents against their people around them find themselves in the center of the main event. The violent event. The examples show in the residents of San Francisco, host of a populous amount of AAPI citizens. Residents of San Jose seemingly have these events close in around them, likewise with many AAPI citizens, with those physically able forming coalitions to hold against the violence. Some take to social media, some take to the sidewalks, and some take to the roads.
Many citizens of the USA, a free country, are falling to gradual acceptance of AAPI hate closing in and spreading abroad. Now abroad in an American island known for vacation, many cultures are accepted. Hawaii. A state off the mainland USA where many people have fun at the beaches. A state to many to relax. Alas, a state for not all to relax.
Not for one elderly Asian woman the weekend of August 7-8, 2021. Shoved by the elbow into the street by a 37-year-old man. Caught on surveillance as the suspect relentlessly elbows the woman, walking away unfazed as she falls into the street and hits her head. But here's the interesting part: as she was carrying a clearly visible purse, the suspect disregards it. He doesn't care about it.
He cared about harming her, the person, and the fact she is an AAPI citizen. This, one incident that shows the fire-like spread of AAPI hate as it leaps off of the mainland USA and into the outskirts of the USA and abroad to other countries such as Australia. An astounding fact to those citizens though, as they witness the spread of AAPI hate. But the full fact to those citizens are that the AAPI hate spreads as well as closes in on their communities.
To the residents of San Jose, a densely populated city with nearly 33% identifying as an AAPI citizen, crimes hit close to home. A city now regularly plagued with small crimes, many are accustomed to be okay with it. But with the hate crimes, as downright outrageous, remind the community to come together and help others.
One such crime to the dismay of many residents, the 3AM torching of 3 cars in a San Jose neighborhood, deliberately targeted for the elderly owner's Vietnamese background. Surveillance footage from the targeted house showing an arsonist's actions that lit the 3 cars on fire, leading to "flames and the smell of gasoline coat[ing] the area," according one of the elder's relatives.
One sign of AAPI hate creeping ever closer in many communities, affecting communities that were thought to not have been merely touched by hate crimes. The loss of symbolistic items, such as the elder's Toyota Sienna, representing her late husband who owned the car. To the elderly woman, enduring the second death of her husband, as if the first loss of a husband is not to be painful enough. Now torched and up in flames, another portrayal of how AAPI hate is not only lingering but devastating the lives of many.
2 directions of spread, surrounding many individuals and broadening a harmful square of hate. All the corners, nothing left out. The square of hate is taking the joy of lives by the day. No longer is it a question of IF the square is growing, but a question of HOW the square is growing. The preexisting effort to stop AAPI hate is not in vain. But, the effort is a clash of unity to stop AAPI hate. The effort is not one person nor is it one small group. It is one big effort made up of many, exampled by the community's support of the elder who was affected.
Now because of the question of how, not if, AAPI hate is spreading, the effort to stop it can change the unfavorable spread into a favorable spread.
Sources:
Comments