Living in hatred for being Asian during Covid-19 2
The attack not only left scars on their bodies, but also left unforgettable pain in their souls.
It was a Saturday afternoon in March 2020, when the whole United States rushed to buy necessities to prepare for the blockade due to Covid-19.
Bawi Cung and his children are pictured in their home before being attacked in a supermarket in Texas in March 2020.
A strange man used a knife to cut his face.
The grisly attack plunged the Asian American community into an atmosphere of fear.
After a year of thousands of similar attacks, many victims find it difficult to move on.
Cung is American of Burmese descent.
`Maybe I will kill him. Maybe he will kill my whole family. I don’t know,` Cung said.
Owen, who was slashed on his leg and right hand, joined another person in arresting suspect Jose Gomez, 19.
Asian Americans are also haunted by slurs.
An older white couple, dissatisfied with her dog, called Yang, a Chinese American, an `Oriental` and said the words that many Asian Americans hate most, telling her to `go home.`
Her children thought the two people wanted them to return home.
`It means we’re not welcome here,` Yang explained and her son burst into tears.
Yang believes that the two dared to say that because US president Donald Trump at that time used racist terms such as `Chinese virus`.
`I don’t know what I can do,` Yang said.
Douglas Kim, 42 years old, chef and owner of Jeju noodle shop in New York City, affirmed that racism during the Covid-19 era was behind the vandalism of his Michelin-starred restaurant in April. Someone did it.
`At that time I was very upset but there were more things to worry about,` Kim said.
He shared a street drawing on Instagram, calling attention to hate.
`I think all problems originate from education,` Kim said.
AAPI Hate, a center for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders based in California, recorded more than 3,000 racial hate incidents from mid-March 2020 to present.
Police in several major cities recorded a sharp increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans from 2019 to 2020, according to data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, California State University
A series of crimes against elderly Asian Americans in the past two months continue to be fiercely criticized to attract the attention of politicians and the media.
California Governor Gavin Newsom last week signed legislation allocating $1.4 million to the Stop AAPI Hate center and the California State University Asian American Studies Center.
Officials and local people also began to pay attention.
Douglas Kim in his restaurant in New York on February 13.
Cynthia Choi, an expert with the organization Stop AAPI Hate, wants to offer a solution to this situation.
Choi and other activists advocate for more investment in education and community resources to get to the root of the problem.
`Our work to address anti-Asian racism is closely tied to addressing anti-black racism,` Choi said.
Before immigrating to the US 6 years ago, Cung had never encountered a racist attack.
Gomez was sentenced to prison for three counts of attempted murder.
`I can forgive him, but we cannot accept racism or terrorist attacks of that kind,` Cung said.
What he looks forward to is life as a naturalized American citizen in a country that `respects people.`
`There may still be racists,` Cung said.
