Merced residents hold Unity Rally to stand with Asian Americans against hate crimes
An ethnically diverse crowd of more than 100 people gathered at the Merced Civic Center on Saturday afternoon for a unity rally to stand against racism and recent hate crimes against Asian Americans nationwide.
The group marched down Main Street and M Street to the Merced Courthouse, carrying signs and chanting.
“With the current rise of anti-Asian hate crimes and more and more of our community members dying across the nation, I thought it was important for us to also address here in Merced,” said Bouasvanh Lor, executive director of the Hmong Culture Camp, one of the organizers of the event.
“Although we are not reporting any anti-Asian hate crimes here (in Merced), it’s happening across the globe so we want to make sure (we’re) addressing the fact here and making sure it doesn’t happen here.”
People held signs that read: “Stop Racism,” “Fight for Us” and “Stop Asian Hate.”
A group of speakers addressed the crowd at the rally, calling for people to come together. They talked about how they had family members who were afraid of going out in public because they were scared they might be attacked.
Others talked about the discrimination they have faced as people of color.
“I wanted to make sure we came out today to support our fellow Asians and just all races,” said Allen Brooks, NAACP Merced chapter president. “We need to make sure everyone knows it’s about unity and nobody is left behind. When we were out here for Black Lives Matter they were here for us so I wanted to make sure they know we were here for them.”
The Hmong Culture Camp, Merced County NAACP, Lao Association of Merced and Valley Onward all worked together to put together the rally. Everyone in attendance wore face masks.
The rally was in response to the rising tide of hate crimes against Asian Americans and others, which many believe has been fueled in part by hateful rhetoric in politics and on social media.
Many were also shocked by the recent killing of eight people — six of them Asian American women — at massage parlors in Atlanta on March 16.
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition of groups that address anti-Asian discrimination, reported that 3,800 hate incidents occurred from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 28 of this year.
There were also recent hate crimes against Asians that drew national attention in New York City, San Antonio and San Francisco.
According to a fact sheet done by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino, in San Francisco hate crimes skyrocketed by 50 percent and in San Jose by 150 percent, with an overall staggering 145% rise in hate crimes across the nation’s largest cities.
“I think it’s important that we represent and support all of our cultural diversity we have in our community,” said Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo, who attended the rally. “With all the violence that has taken place among some of the Asian people, having this rally today is something to highlight that.”
The group received a police escort as they marched to the Merced County Courthouse.
“We want to send a message of unity, strength and coming together so we can heal from this trauma and we can move on from this,” Lor said. “The more that we celebrate one another’s diversity (and) our culture, the less these type of things are going to happen in our communities.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2021 at 5:14 PM.
