{"id":6254,"date":"2021-06-21T10:24:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T16:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/?p=6254"},"modified":"2022-09-30T13:01:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-30T18:01:42","slug":"la-violencia-contra-los-asiaticos-suscita-un-debate-sobre-la-actuacion-policial-y-la-abolicion-en-las-comunidades-aapi-de-chicagos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borderlessmag.org\/es\/2021\/06\/21\/anti-asian-violence-stirs-conversation-on-policing-and-abolition-in-chicagos-aapi-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"La violencia contra los asi\u00e1ticos suscita un debate sobre la actuaci\u00f3n policial y la abolici\u00f3n en las comunidades AAPI de Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never miss a story. Sign up for our Thursday newsletter to learn the latest about Chicago\u2019s immigrant communities.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by South Side Weekly<\/a> on April 29, 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story uses Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) to refer to the community being reported, recognizing that the community includes a diverse range of ethnicities and identities. Sources may refer to particular or collective groups as \u201cpeople of Asian descent\u201d or \u201cAsian Americans,\u201d in which cases we maintain the original language from the sources.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

O<\/span>ver the past year, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community members in Chicago and across the nation have struggled with fear, stress, and anxieties coming from the rise of anti-Asian violence, on top of the alienation and stressors exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. \u201cI was heartbroken and deeply sad and angry. I think it took me some time to really fully grieve what happened,\u201d said Grace Pai, the Director of Organizing at Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) Chicago, about the March 16\u00a0mass shooting<\/a>\u00a0in Atlanta that killed eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent.<\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, AAAJ led virtual healing spaces for community members to reflect and help each other. Among these discussions, she heard stories about anti-Asian harassment and discrimination in the workplace and on the streets. \u201cA lot of this kind of harassment has become very normalized, especially because of the Trump administration\u2019s rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Asian

Horner Park. Photo By: Sarah-Ji<\/p><\/div>\n

The greater Chinatown community continues to be deeply affected by the murders of Huayi Bian and Weizhong Xiong, who were fatally shot in an attempted robbery in Chinatown in February 2020. The carjacking-turned-murder of Shuai Guan in Bridgeport in December 2020 increased calls for community safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increased number of patients looking for mental health counseling,\u201d said Dr. Hong Liu, executive director of the Midwest Asian Health Association (MAHA) and vice president of the Chinatown Security Foundation, a neighborhood watch group that came together after the murders of Bian and Xiong. \u201cThe pandemic has impacted people\u2019s social lives, job loss, and with the recent increase of robberies\u2026 people are scared to go out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of three months, community organizations facilitated conversations to think about long-term solutions and goals for a planned march in January, but rescheduled to March 27 due to safety concerns after the U.S. Capitol insurrection. The original intent of the March rally was to respond to the death of Guan, but it evolved after the revelation that Asian women were targeted in the Atlanta shooting amid a rise in reports of anti-Asian violence.<\/p>\n