Racist Attack Interrupts Danville School's New Year Celebration

DANVILLE, CA — After more than 700 cases of racism and discrimination against Bay Area Asian Americans were investigated by authorities last year, a Danville private school dealt with its own attack last week during a virtual Lunar New Year celebration.

Officials at Bay Valley Chinese School remain frustrated by the incident involving “Zoom bombers” who interrupted an online celebration of the New Year during a call that was open to the public and was being attended by children, school officials said in a statement.

The attack included racist language and lewd images, according to a report in the Mercury-News, which indicated that school officials contacted Danville Police about the incident. School officials said that the Zoom bombers used racial slurs toward the Chinese American community exposed themselves during the call.

School officials said in a statement issued over the weekend that they have identified some possible offenders through witnesses and the recording of the Zoom call, the Mercury News reported.

“We are very frustrated about the hard-to-dodge cybercrime in virtual community events like this and understand the anxiety this incident might have caused our students and guests,” the statement from the school stated.

Last week, Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition formed to address racism and discrimination toward Asian Americans, said that many cases of abuse go unreported, especially among the elderly.

Officials have said that the abuse directed toward the Asian American community has made dealing with the coronavirus pandemic even more difficult. Many Asian Americans are fearful of being alone in public because of the attacks, according to Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

School officials said in their statement that last week’s incident was the first incident involving Zoom-bombing that the school has experienced since the start of the pandemic. The person running the call was able to log everyone off the call and resume the online celebration without further interruption, the Mercury News reported. School officials said they were careful about who they allowed to participation after re-starting the call.

“Graphic images and racist language are hurtful and can cause negative impact. We acknowledge the pain caused and will continue to set online safety as our highest priority by putting in place additional safeguards for future virtual events,” the statement read.

The Mercury News reported that San Ramon Unified Board President Susanna Wong Ordway was participating on the call when the attack took place. Like other school officials, she expressed anger toward those who perpetrated the attacks in what is the latest example of discrimination geared toward Asian Americans.

“This is one of too many incidents that have targeted Asians and Asian Americans, including the violent attacks in San Francisco, Oakland and throughout our country,” Ordway said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

Since the number of attacks directed at Asian Americans have increased since the start of the pandemic, numerous groups signed a statement denouncing the attacks on the community and demanded leaders in Oakland and San Francisco do three things help the Asian American community.

They want victims of all languages and backgrounds to receive services that allow them to recover and heal. They want leaders to expand prevention programs and interventions and invest in basic needs, as well as make other investments, to end the cycle of violence. Thirdly, they want to see education that humanizes Asian Americans and other races rather than demonizing or making them scapegoats.

This week, former NBA star Jeremy Lin – who is currently playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League, spoke out against the attacks on Asian Americans. In a television interview with NBC Sports, Lin said he has become angered over the attacks and he said that the incidents of discrimination against his community has hit home.

“After a while, I feel bad,” Lin said in the television interview. “I feel bad for someone who harbors hate for somebody else who they have never met just based on skin color ….It makes me want to do something and it makes me want to educate people, or I don’t know, speak out and find ways to make a difference. Honestly, it goes from anger to just heartbreak.”

Bay Area News Service contributed to this report.