Tag: anti-hate

Posted on

Office of the Bronx District Attorney Holds Rally Against Hate on May 21

In light of recent hate crimes against AAPI and Jewish communities, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office held an Anti-Hate rally and a resource fair on May 21st, 2021 at Lou Gehrig Plaza from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm, near the Bronx DA’s Office, a few blocks away from Yankee Stadium. The Bronx District Attorney, Darcell Clark, led the cry against all forms of hate, saying, “It’s not who we are as New Yorkers and we will not stand for it… hate against one of us is hate against all of us.” 

Many religious and elected leaders joined DA Clark in denouncing hate. Bronx Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz said, “It’s not just Jewish residents, it’s not just Asian residents. The hate, the discrimination against other communities as well has been going on for far too long.” Other speakers, such as Mayoral Candidate Andrew Yang, NYPD Inspector Tommy M. Ng (and head of the NYPD Asian Hate Crimes Task Force), New York City Council Member Vanessa Gibson, and the Regional Director of the ADL Scott Richman all denounced hate while touching on the importance of solidarity, camaraderie, and acceptance of everyone regardless of their background. 

The Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Executive Director, Yang Chen, spoke on the recent hate crimes against the AAPI community. Chen invited attendees to visit the AABANY table to pick up copies of our anti-Asian violence report or a Know Your Rights brochure for AAPIs who encounter an anti-Asian hate or violence incident. Chen added that AABANY was also giving out buttons with the words “One Humanity Against the Virus.” He explained  that “we’re not talking just about COVID-19, we’re talking about the virus of racism that infects our world today.” The buttons proved to be a popular item.

In addition to AABANY, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, the New York City Commissions on Human Rights and other groups handed out various resources to educate the general public on ways to combat hate at tables set out in the plaza. 

AABANY thanks DA Clark and her staff, especially Deputy Chief of Staff, Beverly Ma, and Miriam Bell-Blair, Director, Immigrant Affairs Unit, for organizing this rally during AAPI Heritage Month. We look forward to continuing to work with the Bronx DA’s Office to combat hate against all communities in New York City. To see more photos from the event, view them here.

Posted on

Chris Kwok Testifies Before the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety on March 22

On March 22, Chris Kwok testified on behalf of AABANY before the New York City Council Committee on Public Safety in support of two changes to the funding of Hate Crime Units of New York District Attorneys’ Offices. These recommendations call for Hate Crime Units to be staffed with full-time prosecutors and legal support personnel, and for periodic audits by the committee to ensure their use of dedicated funds for hate crime prosecution. Chris shared that AABANY first voiced these recommendations in its report on anti-Asian violence. The report specifically identified the “Jade Squad”—a police division formed to combat Chinese gang violence in the 1970s— and concomitant Asian Gang Units that were formed at the District Attorney’s Office. In line with these successful historical efforts, AABANY now advocates for the creation of dedicated and fully funded hate crime divisions in law enforcement and prosecutors’ offices.

The AABANY report recounts numerous instances of assault and harassment against Asian Americans in New York over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Chris highlighted the persistence of such racially fueled attacks to this day. Chris also noted that media outlets, community leaders, and politicians have since backed AABANY’s proposals to fully fund and formally staff anti-hate-crime initiatives. Among these supporters, Chris identified the inspector of the NYPD Task Force and New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. In the face of unrelenting anti-Asian violence throughout the state, Chris explained that the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and District Attorneys’ Office Hate Crime Units require dedicated funding and full-time personnel to improve their reporting structures. Only with such resources can anti-hate-crime initiatives produce reports that adequately detail the efforts of law enforcement to stem anti-Asian violence. The statement concluded with Chris’s message that fully funded and full-time Hate Crime Units are critical to encouraging the continued reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes and to fostering greater trust within the Asian American community. To read Chris’s written statement, submitted with his testimony, click here.