Tommy Hough
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • 2018 Endorsements
  • Book Tommy
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • 2018 Endorsements
  • Book Tommy
  • Blog

The Corrosive Cancer of Violence and Hate Against Our AAPI Communities

2/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Still from Tuesday's ABC 10 story on the attack on a Filipino woman on the San Diego Trolley.
By Tommy Hough

As San Diegans, we cherish our diverse, multicultural city and heritage, and we put a premium on safe, welcoming neighborhoods and communities.

But like you, I've grown increasingly concerned, and incensed, at the increase in attacks and violence against our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) neighbors and community members over the last several weeks.

This monstrous trend has escalated from verbal assaults and the screaming of unprovoked insults, to spitting and coughing on someone, to punching, shoving, and even hitting someone from behind. An elderly man in San Francisco died in January after he was shoved to the pavement, and on Tuesday KGTV ABC 10 reported an elderly Filipino woman was punched in the face while riding the San Diego Trolley.

​
The attack occurred, apparently, without any provocation. This made me ill to my core. This is someone's grandmother. This violence must stop. It must end NOW.

I condemn any and all hateful rhetoric or violence against our AAPI neighbors, friends, and family members in the strongest terms. Those responsible for the attack on the San Diego Trolley must be held accountable, and hate crime statutes must be applied in prosecuting these reprehensible actions.

Much of this terror directed at our AAPI neighbors, from New York to California, is attributable to our former president, who kicked open the pandora's box of American intolerance, and fueled anti-Asian sentiment over the last year with racist rhetoric in reaction to, and to deflect attention from, his administration's inability to respond to the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic.

A report from the Stop AAPI Hate Youth Campaign recorded over 2,800 firsthand incidents of anti-Asian hate in the U.S. from March 19th to Dec. 31st, marking a clear correlation between the current plague of attacks, the pandemic, and the former president's rhetoric throughout 2020. And it's become worse since the New Year, with elderly AAPI citizens specifically targeted.
 
As we've seen throughout history, hoping a violent trend will stop or "go away" is no solution. This epidemic of violence against some of our most vulnerable, elderly residents is something we cannot ignore. Coupled with the cruelty and debasement of the hateful or violent act, racism in all its forms is a health risk to us all.
 
Our city must increase investment and partnerships with programs that promote AAPI-owned businesses and AAPI-led community organizations, as it pledged to do with the city council's adoption of Resolution 313068 on June 4th, which denounced xenophobia and anti-Asian racism in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the city and our police must do more so all our neighbors, especially the elderly, are safe in our neighborhoods, on our streets and sidewalks, and in our local businesses and parking lots.

I'm committed to working with neighborhood resources to combat racism and hate. Our county board of supervisors has already declared racism to be a public health crisis, but that can only be the beginning. As terrible as violence is, it is the corrosive result of the long-simmering societal cancers of racism and hate.

Please look after your neighbors, especially your elderly neighbors. Ensure they feel safe, and that they know you or a friend or family member is nearby. Offer a ride if they need one. Be seen, make yourself available, and let your neighbors know you're only a few doors away.
 
We are a nation of laws, but punishment and justice will not change hearts or cure hate that has had decades to take hold. We must begin with each other, with responsible rhetoric, and the common decency far too many of us deny our neighbors and strangers. I hope you'll join me in this simple, needed task, and I encourage you to visit Stop AAPI Hate for more.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    A former San Diego broadcaster and media personality, Tommy Hough is a wilderness and conservation advocate, communications professional, California Democratic Party delegate, and the co-founder and former president of San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    December 2012
    April 2012
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    October 2010
    September 2010
    March 2010
    September 2009
    May 2009
    January 2009
    October 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    March 2008
    January 2008
    December 2007
    November 2007
    April 2007

    Categories

    All
    A16
    A-16
    Adventure 16
    Afoot And Afield
    Afoot And Afield In San Diego County
    Alaska
    Amy Gulick
    Ancient Forest
    Balboa Avenue Station Specific Plan
    Balboa Ave. Transit Station
    Balboa Park
    Bruce Coons
    Cabrillo Bridge
    Donate-a-Pack
    Donate-a-Pack Foundation
    Elsinore Fault
    Fort Tejon
    Fort Tejon Earthquake
    Friends Of Rose Creek
    Jacobs Plan
    Jerry Sanders
    Jerry Schad
    John D. Mead
    Kevin Faulconer
    Long Beach
    Long Beach Earthquake
    Midcoast Trolley Extension
    Mission Bay
    Mission Bay Drive
    Mount Soledad
    National Park Service
    Newport-Inglewood Fault
    Old-growth
    Old-growth Forest
    Organ Pavilion
    Palm Canyon
    Pat Abbott
    Plaza De Panama
    Rose Canyon Fault
    Rose Creek
    Salmon
    Salmon In The Trees
    San Andreas Fault
    San Diego
    San Diego Bay
    San Diego County
    San Diego Trolley
    San Jacinto Fault
    Save Our Heritage Organisation
    Soho
    Southeast-alaska
    Storm-water-division
    Temperate Rainforest
    The Salmon Way
    Tongass National Forest
    Tongass Rainforest
    Wilderness Press

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home   About    Media    Endorsements    Blog
​
Contact    Book Tommy
Copyright © 2007 – 2021 Tommy Hough