Hundreds In Detroit Push Back Against Anti-Asian Hate

By Ken Coleman, the Michigan Advance

March 22, 2021

More than 300 people attended the Stop the Hate Against Asians rally on Sunday in downtown Detroit. The effort was sponsored by a new organization founded by Zora Bowens and Ceena Vang, women both in their 20s.

After being stunned by the shooting deaths last week of eight people, including six women of Asian descent in the Atlanta, Ga,. area, the metro Detroit residents were driven to do something to stem the rising tide of bigotry against Asian Americans. Vang is Hmong American. Bowens is African American.

They have created “Whenever We’re Needed” to support both Asian and Black communities and “to dismantle the oppressive systems used as a wedge by right-wing politics and media.”

“We are tired, and angry and fed up and we said, ‘Let’s start it up,’” Bowens said.

“This has become something big and I’m very happy with the turnout,” Vang added moments before the start of the rally held at a site named after Patrick V. McNamara, a union activist and former U.S. senator from Michigan during the 1950s and ‘60s.

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Detroit Stop the Hate Against the Hate rally in downtown Detroit. | Ken Coleman photo

Detroit Stop the Hate Against the Hate rally in downtown Detroit. | Ken Coleman photo

State Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) | Ken Coleman photo

Detroit Stop the Hate Against the Hate rally in downtown Detroit. | Ken Coleman photo

State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) | Ken Coleman photo

Protests took place across the country this weekend, including New York, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco and Pittsburgh.

Nearly 3,800 hate-driven incidents, including physical assault, verbal harassment, workplace discrimination, refusal of service, online harassment and shunning, have been reported between March 19, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021 nationwide, including 16 incidents in Michigan, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition based in San Francisco, has been tracking the numbers.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and state Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) attended the rally. Last week they sponsored measures condemning hate crimes against Asian Americans. Senate Resolution 30 and House Resolution 61 both passed in their chambers.

Chang said was pleased with the turnout that included whites and other people of color.

Michigan educators, civil rights leaders work to stop anti-Asian violence during pandemic

“Asian American leaders have been talking about this issue for a year,” said Chang, the first member of the Asian-American woman elected to the Michigan Legislature. “We have been talking about the fact that we knew that the rhetoric, whether calling [COVID-19] the ‘Kung flu’ or the ‘Chinese virus,’ we knew that this rhetoric was happening in our community and people would be prying on.”

Those derogatory terms have been used by several elected officials, including former President Donald Trump and current Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake).

Puri added: “We are here today to denounce hate in all of its forms.”

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance. For more stories from the Michigan Advance, visit MichiganAdvance.com.