In recent years, too many communities in San Francisco and around the country have experienced an increase in hate-motivated violence. Our black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, and Jewish communities, among others, have been the targets of too many incidents sparked by racism, bigotry and intolerance.
This has been particularly true for our AAPI communities. Last Saturday, we marked the two-year anniversary of the brutal death of Grandpa Vicha. In an eerily similar attack reported the prior week, an elderly Asian man walking with a cane in the morning to his daughter’s home was forcefully pushed to the ground. That same week, Chinatown’s newest arts and cultural community center, CMAC’s Edge on the Square, was defaced.
The spike in anti-Asian violence coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by racist rhetoric by national leaders.When I served as Chair of the California API Legislative Caucus, we worked to secure a historic $165 million investment in reducing hate violence.Unfortunately, the challenges continue.
Last week, I joined San Francisco city leaders to announce new and coordinated strategies to address hate incidents and support victims of hate.The announcement builds on conversations with community-based organizations focused on this important work, as well as those stemming from a lawsuit against the city that sought to ensure victims are adequately served. I want to thank the organizations who have worked with my City Attorney’s Office to improve our city’s response to hate incidents.
Our city’s strategy is bringing together resources from the Mayor’s Office, the Police Department, and the District Attorney’s Office to respond more quickly and effectively to potential hate crimes, as well as improving coordination between city agencies and community-based organizations.
Our strategy also includes better multilingual support for victims and witnesses, resources to help victims navigate the legal system, and stronger support in the form of culturally competent counseling services and partnerships with community groups.
To continue the conversation, I will be joining our District Attorney and Police Chief at a citywide summit on hate violence on February 15, bringing together residents, community organizations and law enforcement to build awareness across all of our communities and identify more solutions.
To report a hate incident, you can call 9-1-1 for emergency assistance, or the SF District Attorney’s Hate Crime Hotline at 628-652-4311. Translators are available for Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai. When reporting a hate crime, no one will ask about immigration status, so we encourage the reporting of all incidents you see, for your safety and the safety of our community.
While San Francisco has seen a decrease in reported hate incidents against AAPIs during the past year, we need to continue our work to make communities safer.We are stronger together.