Berkeley Rallies Against Anti-Asian Hate: Report

BERKELEY, CA — At least three Berkeley-area rallies against anti-Asian hate have been planned for the coming days including one in Albany scheduled for Friday (today) at 5:30 p.m., Berkeleyside reports.

The Albany rally will be held in the area of San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street according to the report.

Rallies against anti-Asian hate are also scheduled for Sunday in Berkeley and April 2 in Oakland, the report said.

The rallies come amid a nationwide surge of attacks on people of Asian descent including the March 16 Atlanta spa attacks that killed eight people including six Asian women.

Law enforcement officials have not concluded that the incident is a hate crime.

There have been nearly 3,800 hate attacks against Asian people in the last year according to the group Stop AAPI Hate.

That the explosion of anti-Asian hate incidents followed former President Donald Trump’s incendiary rhetoric amid the pandemic is no coincidence according to a UC Berkeley expert.

Trump’s use of the terms “China virus” and “kung flu” were especially problematic, UC Berkeley Asian American and Asian Diasporas Studies Associate Professor Lok Siu said in an interview with Berkeley News, the university’s official publication.

“… that automatically associated the virus with Chinese people, a racial category that references people of Chinese descent, regardless of location,” Siu told the publication.

“By blaming the Chinese as the cause of the pandemic, he ignited anti-Chinese sentiments and channeled popular fear and rage against East Asian-appearing persons.”

The Sunday rally in Berkeley is scheduled to be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at Aquatic Park near the Waterside Workshops (84 Bolivar Dr.) according to the Berkeleyside report.

The rally will be followed by a march across the I-80 pedestrian bridge according to the report.

The April 2 rally and march in Oakland will start at 2:30 p.m. at City Hall, the report said.

Read more in Berkeleyside