'Overwhelming Grief': San Diegans Respond To Mass Shooting Involving Women Of Asian Descent

Speaker 1: 00:00 The repercussions of a shooting rampage in Atlanta yesterday are being felt in Asian American communities across the us. Eight people died and attacks on three spas in the area. Six of the victims are women of Asian descent. A suspect is in custody and authorities say the 21 year old white male being held for the shootings claims. They were not motivated by race, but after a year of increasing harassment and violence directed toward the Asian community, many in that community say they've had enough. Joining me is Corrine Mokapu guy, a member of the California commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American affairs and the board of the San Diego API coalition and Corinne. Thank you so much for speaking with us. Speaker 2: 00:47 Thank you for having me. Can Speaker 1: 00:50 I ask about your reaction when you heard about this shooting rampage Speaker 2: 00:56 Grief, it Siemens grief, like so many of us, we have so much to grieve in this time of pandemic. Uh, we have much degree of in terms of the rise in attacks against Asian Pacific Islander people. Um, but the killings yesterday just brought more overwhelming grief. And I wish I could say that I'm shocked, but I'm not, which makes the response even worse. Um, so it's a lot of grief and mourning that we're seeing across the country. At the moment Speaker 1: 01:31 We have previously covered the increased fear in San Diego's Asian American community over the past months. Can you remind us of the types of racially motivated incidents that have occurred? Speaker 2: 01:44 Absolutely. So they send you the Asian Pacific Islander coalition. We have partnered with stop AAP. I hate it is a reporting and documentation effort to provide people with API to send to who believed that they have been attacked, assaulted, or harassed because of their appearance and their race. It gives them the Avenue to report these incidences. The range of attacks we have seen locally have been anywhere from I'll give you a few examples. There is a 75 year old woman who is Japanese American, who actually survived being in the world war two in terming camps. And recently she was verbally assaulted by someone who told her it's your fault. We have COVID. Speaker 2: 02:46 So that is one example. Another example we have learned of recently, who's actually a dear friend of mine. Her name is Donalene Ferrera. She gave me permission to share her name. She is a 40 year old nurse and she was walking in the San Marcos area with her 60 plus year old mother, her 17 year old daughter. And they were just taking a family stroll. When people who were driving by actually stopped their car, got out of the car, started screaming at them, blaming them for Corona virus, blaming them for everything happening with the pandemic. And they even attempted to attack her 17 year old daughter. Um, so those are just two of the examples that we're hearing. It's everything from verbal assault. Um, uh, someone was spit on in their car. Um, we're hearing all kinds of incidences that, that unfortunately are rising and have been rising in the past year. Speaker 1: 03:54 Now, how has this threat of violence changed life for Asian-American individuals and families in San Diego? Speaker 2: 04:02 Unfortunately, racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is not new. However, we are seeing a rise in it because of the rhetoric that we're, that we have heard from decision makers and leaders. I'm calling it the Chinese flu and attributing blame to Asian communities. Collectively, we are seeing a concern. Uh, we are seeing a call for our electeds, our leaders to recognize these incidences of hate. We actually have data that is backed up by stock AAPI hate who had been gracious to provide us with regional data. We know that between March to the end of December, 2020, we had 42 incidences of attacks in San Diego alone. Speaker 1: 04:56 And has that actually changed the way people live? The threat of those attacks, has that changed the way families go out? The time individuals go out? Has it changed lifestyles that you're aware of Speaker 2: 05:10 We're in a pandemic? So I don't, I think what's important is that our communities don't resort to living in fear, we are hoping to form some kind of crisis response, some kind of resource response to folks who feel that their safety may be in jeopardy though. It's conversations are happening. However, I would hope that as a community, we are not going to give into fear and we instead are going to be heartened and lean on the support, the outpouring of support that we are receiving, not just from the Asian Pacific out of your community, but other communities as well. So in terms of lifestyle, I think people are being a little bit more cautious. We're wanting to make sure that our elders are not in places by themselves, um, in the evening or really any time. So that is part of our conversation is how can we support those communities who are vulnerable and how can we make sure we're centering them and their wellbeing Speaker 1: 06:21 Authorities in Atlanta, including the mayor there say, it's unclear right now, if the suspect who allegedly murdered these eight people was racially motivated. They say he may have had a sexual motive for the crimes. How convincing is that? Speaker 2: 06:36 The fact there's a majority of these people killed were Asian women. Even if there was some kind of sexual motivation, it doesn't change the fact that they are Brown women, and frankly, you cannot separate sexual violence, violence against women violence against Brown and black people. It is interconnected. Speaker 1: 06:58 What are you hearing from Asian-American advocates in Atlanta? Speaker 2: 07:02 They're asking that we allow them time to grieve. They are asking that we keep the families of the victims and the communities there from, uh, respecting their boundaries and their privacies. They are asking specifically about, we all advocate for crisis response, increase access to health care, mental health care, um, public safety. Those are their asks at the moment. Uh, much of that also has to do with advocacy around understanding and lifting up Asian Pacific Islander voices. And this narrative that there are racially motivated attacks happening. Atlanta is the most severe painful, recent example, but these are incidences that have been happening all over the country and need to be taken seriously. Speaker 1: 07:57 I've been speaking with Kerryn Mokapu guy, a member of the California commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American affairs and on the board of the San Diego API coalition. Corinne. Thank you so much. Speaker 2: 08:10 Thank you. [inaudible].