Activism

COMMENTARY: Asian Americans, African Americans Know the Hate in America

You may have missed the statistics, though you may have felt it instinctively last August when the FBI released the news. Hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent rose by 70% in the U.S. The number of hate crimes targeting Blacks jumped 40%. All of it compared to 2019 levels. The trend is up. Double digits. We share the pain of racist hate.

Published

2 years ago

March 25, 2022

Oakland Post

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a talk show on www.amok.com

Emil Guillermo talks about race and politics from an Asian American perspective at www.amok.com See it live at 2pm Pacific on Twitter @emilamok; YouTube; Facebook/emilguillermo/media.

By Emil Guillermo

This week, African Americans and Asian Americans are reminded of our common ground.

It’s Four A (or AAAA) level when it comes to hate in America.

You may have missed the statistics, though you may have felt it instinctively last August when the FBI released the news.

Hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent rose by 70% in the U.S.

The number of hate crimes targeting Blacks jumped 40%.

All of it compared to 2019 levels. The trend is up. Double digits.

We share the pain of racist hate.

For Asian Americans, much of it was due to being scapegoated by the twice-impeached president who used phrases like “Kung Flu” and “China Virus” to describe the pandemic.

The scapegoating by the White House essentially gave the public a signal to go after Asian Americans for way more than just the origins of the pandemic.

We’ve seen the attacks in and around Oakland’s Chinatown.

The group #StopAAPIHate first started logging instances of hate transgressions and found that in two years reports have grown from a modest 700 cases to nearly 11,000, ranging from verbal abuse and spitting to physical violence, including murder.

But the historical marker for this era of Asian American pain will always be Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021.

It was one year ago this week that six Asian American women of Korean descent were killed in what has become known as the “Atlanta spa killings.”

The homogenized phrase hides the real pain. We should know March 16, 2021 by the lives claimed.

Xaojie “Emily” Tan, 49. Tan owned Young’s Asian Spa in Cherokee County, Georgia, where the first part of the day’s shootings occurred. Tan also owned another spa, Wang’s Feet and Body Massage in Kennesaw, Georgia. She met her husband, Michael Webb, in Asia, and they came to America in 2006. The couple adopted a daughter, then divorced. Tan died a day before her 50th birthday.

Daoyou Feng, 44, worked at Young’s Asian Spa for just a few months.

Hyung Jung Grant, 51, worked at the Gold Spa and was a single mother of two sons. She had been a schoolteacher in South Korea.

Soon Chung Park, 74, made food for the employees at the Gold Spa. She had lived in New York before moving to Atlanta.

Suncha Kim, 69, worked at the Gold Spa and came to America in the 1980s. She was close to her family and worked several jobs to support them. A grandchild described her as a “fighter” and a “rock,” for the family.

Yong Ae Yue, 63, worked at the Aromatherapy Spa. She came to the U.S. in the 1970s from Korea where she met her husband, Mac Peterson, who was in the U.S. military.

Those are the names of the six Asian American women.

The person alleged to have committed all eight murders that occurred that day was convicted last July of the four deaths at Young’s in Cherokee County.

Robert Aaron Long, 21, took a plea deal to the four murders at Young’s and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus 35 years. (Paul Andre Michels was also killed there that day.)

Long purchased a 9 mm handgun that very day, then went to a liquor store to buy alcohol. He drove to Young’s Spa and parked outside for an hour. He said the shootings weren’t about race, but rather his sex addiction overlaid with Christian guilt over premarital sex. That’s what they all say. Long said he went to the bathroom and came out shooting.

Long is then alleged to have driven to the two other spas, Gold’s Spa and Aromatherapy Spa in Atlanta’s Fulton County where he is alleged to have killed Grant, Park, Kim and Yu.

While the Cherokee County DA did not seek hate crime enhancements, the Fulton County district attorney is seeking the death penalty and hate crime enhancements.

Long has pleaded not guilty. His next court appearance is in April.

And that’s where we are one year later. Still processing the pain, the hate and the evil.

March 16, 2021, was the day a young white man, angered and confused by religion and his sexuality, lashed out at six innocent Asian American women: Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, Daoyou Feng, Hyung Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park,Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue.

They were working people doing what immigrants with limited means are allowed to do in this country. But they were surviving, despite living in a society burdened by racism, sexism and white supremacy. They were alive.

Then, in an instant it was all over, gunned down by a 9mm in an act of zealous evil.

Asian Americans know the violent pain of racism. Hate is an experience we share in America.

Emil Guillermo talks about race and politics from an Asian American perspective at www.amok.com See it live at 2pm Pacific on Twitter @emilamok; YouTube; Facebook/emilguillermo/media.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

7 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

7 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

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WOMEN IMPACTING THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Juanita Matthews

Sister Juanita Matthews

55 Years with Oakland Public School District

The Teacher, Mother, Community Outreach Champion, And Child of God

Juanita Matthews, better known as “Sister Teacher,” is a walking Bible scholar. She moved to California from the great state of Arkansas in 1971. Sister Teacher has a passion for teaching. She has been a member of Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church since 1971. She followed her passion for teaching, and in 1977 became the lead teacher for Adult Class #6. Her motto still today is “Once My Student, Always My Student”.

Beyond her remarkable love for the Lord, Sister Teacher has showcased her love for teaching by working for the Oakland Unified School District for 55 years, all but four of those years spent at Emerson Elementary and Child Development School. She truly cares about her students, making sure they have the tools/supplies needed to learn either at OUSD or Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

She’s also had a “Clothes Closet Ministry” for 51 years, making sure her students have sufficient clothing for school. The Clothes Closet Ministry extends past her students, she has been clothing the community for over 50 years as well. She loves the Lord and is a servant on a mission. She is a loving mother to two beautiful children, Sandra and Andre. This is the impact this woman of God has on her church and the community.