PEABODY — Around 50 people attended a rally in Peabody Square Saturday to raise awareness about the rise in anti-Asian discrimination and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, many waving signs that read “Stop Asian Hate.”
Jaclyn Corriveau, a member of the Republican State Committee, who organized the demonstration, said that she was prompted to do so after the murders of eight people at Atlanta massage parlors on March 16, six of whom were Asian women.
“The uptick started when COVID first appeared,” she said. “I started to notice a lot of articles in lesser-known media outlets publishing instances of overt violence and harassment toward Asian people because they were blaming Chinese-Americans specifically for the transmission of COVID to the United States. It’s only gotten worse since then.”
Soon Chung Park, 74, Hyun Jung Grant, 51, Suncha Kim, 69, Yong Yue, 63, Delaina Ashley Yaun, 33, Paul Andre Michels, 54, Xiaojie Tan, 49 and Daoyou Feng, 44 were killed in the shootings, which occurred at three different massage parlors in the city. One other person was injured and hospitalized, but survived.
Corriveau said that while the incident may have been the climax of the violence thus far, the issue has not been limited to Atlanta. According to a study released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, in 2020, hate crimes against Asians rose by 149 percent across the country, while total hate crimes fell by 7 percent.
In some cities, that increase has been even more staggering. In New York City, anti-Asian hate crimes rose by 833 percent in 2020, and in both Philadelphia and Cleveland, Ohio, incidents doubled. In Boston, anti-Asian incidents rose by 133 percent.
Despite this, Corriveau said that before the Atlanta murders, and even now, she has met with pushback when she tries to raise awareness about the issue.
“I was repeatedly told by people that it’s not true, which is such an incredibly dismissive and rude statement,” said Corriveau, who is half-Chinese and has family members who have expressed reluctance to leave their homes at night out of fear they may be attacked. “If you’re not willing to acknowledge a problem, there’s no way you’re going to stop it, so it’s very frustrating to talk to people who literally just completely cover their ears.”
Saturday’s rally was attended by residents and elected officials from both the state’s Republican and Democratic parties, including Governor Charlie Baker.
“It’s been a really tough time for all kinds of communities over the past year, made even more difficult by acts of hatred and violence,” Baker said. “I really do think this should be an easy one for everyone. It’s been especially hard for many people of color and many communities of color. I hope one of the things that comes out of it is a little more tolerance and a little more love.”
State Representative Donald Wong said that he was shocked by the killings in Atlanta, as well as the continued denials by some that the incident was a hate crime.
“There is no excuse ever to take another person’s life,” Wong said. “The people in Atlanta could’ve been grandmothers, mothers, daughters. We have to look at it as a whole. We have to understand we’re all one family. We’re all humans and shouldn’t be divided.”
Thomas Mountain, vice chair of the Republican State Committee, said that coming from a Jewish background, he understood what it was like to be part of a group that had been targeted throughout history, noting the mass shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 2018, where 11 people were killed.
“We want to communicate that we’re here for all Asians, whether you came here 14 generations ago or 10 months ago,” Mountain said. “You’re still in our American family, and we won’t tolerate any bigotry.”
