THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said the apparently race-driven assaults on many Asian-Americans in the past months in several key United States cities could affect the country’s foreign policy.
“This is gravely noted and will influence Philippine foreign policy,” tweeted Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., without elaborating. He added that the Filipinos consider racial brutality seriously.
His remark was triggered by a video that had gone viral on social media, of a 65-year-old immigrant of Filipino descent who was attacked in New York’s Times Square. A burly, swarthy man kicked her while she was walking. After she fell, the man stomped on her head three times, yelling, “F—k you. You don’t belong here.”
Security guards in a bank nearby failed to intervene, and did not offer any help, footage showed, with one guard even closing the door.
Social media erupted with disgust at what is the latest in a recent series of attacks on Asian-Americans: “DISGUSTED beyond words. A 65-year-old Asian lady brutally kicked and beaten in broad daylight in Manhattan. Worse three bystanders did nothing!! Even more worse, the security guard closed the door to ignore it!! She is still hospitalized with fractured pelvis.”
Another netizen twitted: “Warning, graphic video: another angle of a 65-year-old Asian woman being brutally attacked on W 43rd St. yesterday. Police still looking for the attacker. The people who work in the building and did nothing to help her have been suspended.”
Locsin, a former journalist-lawmaker, offered a sarcastic version of the immortal words etched on the plinth of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your weary, your short and slinky eyed, those who can’t fight back so we can kick them to death like the cowards we are.”
The situation has become so scary for Asian Americans that Andrew M. Yang, an American entrepreneur, politician, political commentator, philanthropist and author, is advising “no Asians should walk outside alone but to only go out in pairs.”
There were 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents, mostly against women, in the past year, according to a prestigious American news organization.
“There is an intersectional dynamic going on that others may perceive both Asians and women and Asian women as easier targets,” one professor was quoted as saying.
The latest data showed over the past year, the number of anti-Asian hate incidents—shunning, slurs and physical attacks—is greater than previously reported. And, a disproportionate number of attacks have been directed at women.
The research released by reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate last week revealed nearly 3,800 incidents were reported in roughly a year during the pandemic. The nonprofit does not report incidents to police.
“I was mad, like blood boiling through my veins now, watching my community get slaughtered,” said Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights activist who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work in advocating for sexual assault survivors.
“How many more people need to be killed in order for the news outlets, especially mainstream ones, to think that we’re worthy of a story?” she asked.
Image credits: US Embassy, DFA
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