Councilmember Helen Gym, a longtime advocate for school safety, spoke of the larger context of racial bias against Asian Americans locally and across the United States.
“Let’s be honest,” said Gym, “It is what this nation has been doing around anti-Asian violence, rhetoric that has started from the highest levels of elected office, with whole elected parties generating anti-Asian rhetoric. That needs to end now.”
People of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have faced a surge in racist incidents since the start of the pandemic. Nationwide, more than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported over the past two years, up more than 75% from before COVID, a figure many experts have said is likely lower than reality.
This action was triggered in response to an attack on Asian American teenagers a few weeks ago:
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