PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Members and allies of Philadelphia’s Asian American communities gathered in Chinatown Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil in the wake of the deadly spa shootings in Atlanta. Most of the victims were Asian women.
Hundreds of people, varying in age and racial backgrounds, gathered at 10th and Vine streets in solidarity. The group held signs, some reading, “stop anti-Asian hate” and “no more racist violence.”
“The message here is trying to help the public understand and see how white supremacy is at the core root of the violence that folks are seeing in the Asian community, in Black communities,” said Nancy Nguyen, co-founder of VietLead, who also helped organize the vigil.
“Systemic racism is a long-lasting part of the United States, and this is how it impacts Asian communities,” she continued. “The only way we’re going to get rid of that is to change the very systems that perpetuate it.”
Others in attendance, like Drexel University freshman Alexis Lin, came to grieve the tragedy and take a stand against the hate.
“We won’t be silenced. We do have a voice,” she said.
According to the latest report by the national coalition Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate, there have been nearly 3,800 anti-Asian hate incidents across the U.S. between the start of the pandemic and now.
Lin said she’s taken extra caution.
“Whether I’m walking, on the train, I have all of these scenarios in my head of what could happen. I’m more paranoid about what could potentially happen,” she said. “It even scares me as I walk in my own community and I see Asian elders walking by themselves. I specifically walk slow behind them to make sure that they are not in any danger.”
Many believe the shootings are racially charged, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, which was often disparagingly described by former President Donald Trump as the “China virus.”
“The fact that it’s not being described as a hate crime is mindblowing to me,” said Lin. “We always seem to be treated as a foreigner no matter how hard we try. Despite all of the hard work and contributions we make to society, we don’t seem like we will ever have our place in this society.”