TGIF FEATURE: Asian/Americans to stage anti-hate rally before white supremacist events in S.F, Berkeley

Asian/Americans took part in the International Workers Day march in San Francisco that took on the tenor
of an anti-Trump demonstration.

By Louis Chan
ASAM NEWS

Asian/Americans plan to light up the night in response to the recent incidents of hate in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A candlelight vigil will be held just hours before a pro-Trump Patriot Prayer rally is planned in San Francisco on Saturday (Aug. 26) and another demonstration of White Supremacists in Berkeley the following day.

The vigil dubbed Light up the Night- from Charlottesville to Chinatown: No Hate will be held on the pedestrian bridge leading from the Chinese Culture Center to Portsmouth Square in San Francisco’s Chinatown Friday at 8 p.m.

A civil rights symposium is scheduled right before the vigil at the Chinese Culture Center from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

“A number of groups and leaders who came together to advocate against recent xenophobic immigration rhetoric and policy proposals were horrified about what we saw happen in Charlottesville and wanted to make sure we were both educating our community and speaking out against white supremacy,” Vincent Pan, co-director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, said to AsAmNews.

CAA is part of a coalition of groups which organized under the banner No More Exclusion prior to the 135th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Among the speaker at the symposium will be the Rev. Norman Fong, Chinatown Community Development Center; Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Jewish Voice for Peace; Joyce Lam, Chinese Progressive Association; Annette Wong, Chinese for Affirmative Action; Clifford Yee, Organization of Chinese Americans – San Francisco Chapter; Sandra Lee Fewer, San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Phil Ting, California State Assemblymember.

Last week in Charlottesville, white supremacists marched through the University of Virginia holding torches. The image and size of the crowd stunned a nation and put it in turmoil.

It’s no coincidence that the symposium will end with a candlelight vigil of people supporting diversity and inclusion.

“Light representing hope and love is necessary to combat the hate of white supremacy,” said Pan.

He said the threat of what he called “overt white supremacy” directly affects Asian/Americans. He cited the rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community and the continued “unequal access to education, health and employment opportunities.”_________________________________________________________________________________