By Rich McKay

ATLANTA, Reuters -Resisting anti-Asian violence protestors gathered in Atlanta (and other U.S. towns) Wednesday to commemorate one year after a mass shooting in Atlanta of Asian women at spas in the area that triggered a surge in hate incidents towards the community.

To raise awareness of the increasing violence against Asian-Americans, advocates organized events in Houston, Detroit and San Francisco. This was exacerbated by recent New York assaults on women.

On Wednesday in Atlanta, 200 protestors gathered inside a freight yard, holding slogans like “We won’t be silent” or “Asians are entitled to justice.” This event commemorated the year of the shooting death of eight persons, six of them Asian women at three local spas.

Robert Peterson was the son of Yong Ae Yue (one of the victims), and spoke briefly during the event. He said that he was the son of a Black father, and a Korean mom.

He said, “It’s important to label this as a crime that was racially motivated.” My mother, an Asian woman, was the target because she was who she is.”

Let’s stand united and send the message that this unacceptable behavior is not tolerated. It will not be tolerated.”

Although police originally stated that the gunman was white and was motivated to violence by his sexual addiction, others saw misogyny as well as racial bias in the motives for the attack. This occurred as anti-Asian hate crime cases were increasing across the United States. Experts believe that the COVID-19 epidemic, which was a pandemic in China, is causing people to attack Asian-Americans.

Sung Yeon Choimorrow is the executive director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. This advocacy organization, which was founded in nonprofit, believes that the rising violence stems partly from the exacerbation of Chinese people as the cause of the pandemic.

She said that while Asian Americans had been victims of racism long before the outbreak, they now feel more comfortable speaking out about their experiences. The Atlanta shootings have served as an opportunity for them to share their stories, and she spoke in an interview.

According to her, “Nothing has galvanized America like the Atlanta spa shootings.” It allowed us to enter and explain the reasons for this.

President Joe Biden said in a statement on Wednesday the shootings had forced Americans to “reckon with our nation’s long legacy of anti-Asian sentiment and gender-based violence” as he highlighted the COVID-⁠19 Hate Crimes Act enacted last year, a bill aimed at combating violence against Asian Americans.

Stacey Abrams (a Black women who runs for the Democratic nomination in Georgia) drew parallels to the historical discrimination faced by Asian Americans as well as Blacks. These rights were limited under Jim Crow laws which lasted into the 1960s.

My father was raised in Jim Crow South. “What happened here was an echo that,” Abrams said to the Atlanta crowd. We are all there because we have to remember. Because those stories are America’s, we must share them.

The rally “Break The Silence – Justice for Asian Women”, held Wednesday, was to honor the Atlanta shooting victims: Paul Andre Michels (54); Delaina Ashley Yanu, 33; Daoyou Fueng (44); Yong Ae Yue (63); Xiaojie Tan (49); Hyun Jung Grant (51); Suncha Kim (69); and Soon Chung Park (74).

Research by Stop AAPI Hate found that 10,905 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders occurred between March 19, 2020 (and Dec. 31, 2021). According to the research, 16% of hate incidents involved physical violence and women accounted for most.

According to a different report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism of California State University San Bernardino (Centre for the Study of Hate and Extremism), hate crimes committed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders rose by 164% during the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same time in 2020.

Police in Yonkers (New York) reported that a woman of Asian heritage was attacked more than 125 time last week. A man then stomped on her, calling her anti-Asian. The attack was the latest in a string of attacks on Asians in New York, and around the world in recent months.

On Wednesday, another 25-year-old New Yorker was charged in the murder in Chinatown of a Korean woman. Police said that the suspect followed the victim into her home and repeatedly stabbed her.

(Reporting by Rich McKay of Atlanta, Brendan O’Brien from Chicago, Nathan Layne in Wilton and Connecticut; editing and writing by Jonathan Oatis & Bill Berkrot