Big Filipino rally vs Asian hate on March 30
Filipino groups, community leaders, and survivors of attacks across New York City are uniting to organize a rally on Wednesday, March 30th from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at Foley Square.
In the spirit of closing Women’s History month, organizers believe it is critical to center this event around Filipino women, those who were attacked and have been most vulnerable to violence.
“More than 70 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander women report having personally experienced racism or discrimination in the past year,” said NaFFAA-NY State Chairperson Rachelle Ocampo, EdM, “and according to Stop AAPI Hate data, more than 970 Filipinos were victims of anti-Asian attacks from March 2020 to December 2021. As a public health professional, it pains me to see how we are living through a double pandemic of Filipino nurses being over-represented in COVID-19 deaths and the pandemic of violent, unprovoked, racial-based attacks. It is time for Filipinos to rise up.”
With hate crimes increasing despite ratification of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act almost a year ago, leadership calls for policy changes that will keep all communities safe from racialized violence including the urgent need to amend existing hate crime laws.
The objectives of the rally are to center it around Filipino women, present our demands to local officials and policymakers, break down explanation of underlying issues/ root causes of why these attacks are happening, educate people in attendance/watching/listening on the lived experiences of survivors of anti-Asian violence (testimonies, culturals, artwork etc.), show the collective unity of our groups coming together as Filipinos and being in solidarity with other AAPI organizations, ways to Support: Call to Action/Solutions Oriented/Participatory and being Trauma-Informed by not perpetuating victimhood.
Demands from the Filipino and Filipino American community include amending existing hate crime laws, providing more formalized and comprehensive support for survivors, funding the housing and mental health crises, establishing a Filipino community center, incorporating AAPI history and curriculum into public education, and more.
“We need Anti Hate laws to work for us and not against us. As long as hate crimes continue then clearly the law is not working. Unlike other hate crimes with well-established symbols, Asian hate crimes rely on proving intent and evidence of racial slurs. Our attackers use being victims of systemic racism as an excuse. They use homelessness and mental illness as an excuse. What they fail to see is they are playing along and perpetuating hate. It’s not an excuse,” said the organizers. “We need to re-examine how we define Anti-Asian hate. We deserve accountability and protection. Our skin color is our symbol and our strength. Solving Asian hate is not a problem only to be solved by Asians. We need to come together as a community, people of all colors to stand up and say ‘Enough, Stop Asian Hate.’”
“Structural racism is designed by the hierarchical oppressors to divide and rule People of Color. As long as Anti-Asian Hate crime law language is not changed, then anti-Asian hate crime is perpetuated by the racist system. Potri Ranka Manis was assaulted in the subway by two assailants shouting anti-Asian slurs at her.”
The coalition of groups involved includes AF3IRM, Asian American Federation, Diverse Street Initiatives, Filipino Americans for Racial Action, Filipino American National Historical Society, FIND, Inc. District III, Gabriela New York, Gotham Dance Theater, Kinding Sindaw, Legal Good, Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts, Malaya New York, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Nonviolent Peaceforce, The Philippine Nurses Association of New York, Inc., Philippine International Network for Advocacy & Solidarity, Project Barkada, and Woodside On The Move.
