Convicted sex offender allowed to go on anti-Asian rant at NYC Council hearing
“It’s nothing but Asians there. … If you go into a store, they will follow you around like you’re getting ready to steal something,” he claimed at the hearing. “They don’t want Black people living in Black people neighborhoods. Because it’s not their neighborhood, because they’re from China, they’re from Hong Kong. We from New York.”
“Can you imagine if he was saying the same about Blacks, Hispanics or Jewish people? Would our electeds be silent and move on as if nothing racist happened?” Chu questioned.
“‘They from China, Hong Kong…we from New York.’ What does that mean? We are not NYers? That we don’t deserve a say? He called our testimony ‘garbage,’” she added.
“The comments at today’s @NYCCouncil hearing attacking Asian Americans were racist and divisive. Racial attacks like this have no place in our city, much less in Council Chambers, and should be condemned by all,” Ung tweeted, tagging VOCAL-NY.
“In reference to yesterdays hearing on fair chance for housing: Racism and discrimination hurt us all in different ways and responding to them with similar rhetoric is never the solution,” Williams wrote on Twitter. “As a Black woman, a member of one of the most hated and disrespected demographics on the planet, I know personally how deeply hurtful language can be to our progress as a people and one’s personal safety.”
She continued: “The prejudice against both Asian communities, Black communities and justice-involved folks is a product of systematic racism that we must stand against. In May, I held a hearing on hate crimes to highlight the recent increase in anti-Asian hate in our city. I felt it was important to ensure our Asian brothers and sisters had both the support and resources they needed to combat hate. … Our liberation is rooted in each other’s freedoms, that is why I denounce any hateful comments directed towards any community.”