Updated:May 6, 2021, 11:35 A.M.
Vancouver, B.C.
The federal government officially recognized Asian Heritage Month in Canada in May 2002.
Mildred German
This week, two more Asian seniors were attacked in the US. Two older Asian American women, one who is 85 years old, were approached by a man with a knife and stabbed while waiting at a San Francisco bus stop yesterday afternoon.
On Sunday, two Asian women, ages 66 and 67, were attacked by a man in a Baltimore liquor store as they were closing. Surveillance video shows the man hitting the women multiple times with a cinder block. A more brutal attack was also taken outside the store.
These are the latest in a string of violent attacks on Asian Americans across the US. Particularly, the attacks against older Asian are pervasive.
On February 16, 2021, Juanito Falcon, 74, was out on a morning walk in a neighbourhood in Phoenix, Arizona, when he was attacked. Falcon was found with head injuries from falling on the ground and hitting his head on the pavement. When he was taken to the hospital, doctors found he had a skull fracture and that he needed surgery.
Falcon ultimately died from his injuries two days later on February 18. An autopsy identified that Falcon’s cause of death was blunt force trauma.
In March 2021, Xiao Zhen Xie, a 76-year old elderly Asian woman, was attacked in broad daylight, in San Francisco. Xie, a resident of San Francisco for 26 years, was unprovokedly attacked as she was waiting at a traffic light.
Xie was able to immediately fight back with a found stick in the area, sending her attacker in a stretcher. However, the attack shook Xie up, traumatised her, and left her with injuries needing medical attention.
Officers also say there was a second victim earlier than Xie, an 83-year-old Asian man.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asian-woman-attacked-san-francisco-fights-back/
On March 29, a man kicked and stomped Filipina American, Vilma Kari, 65-year-old near Times Square in New York City. Kari was kicked in her stomach. As she was crumpled to the sidewalk, the attacker kicked her in the head. Then again. And again. He was yelling “You don’t belong here.”
The hate crime and obscenity against the Filipina senior was captured by security cameras. Footages not only exposed the brutal attack, but also the heartbreaking inaction of the bystanders, including the building’s lobby workers and a security guard.
On April 23, Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old Asian man was attacked in New York City while he was collecting cans to make ends meet after losing his job in the pandemic. Ma has been hospitalized in critical condition. Doctors had him placed in a medically-induced coma.
IN CANADA
Meanwhile in Canada, hate crimes and attacks against Asian seniors are pervasive. Much hate crimes echo from the US to Canada, particularly the terrifying attacks against vulnerable seniors and elderlies.
In 2020, a 92-year-old Asian man with dementia was thrown to the sidewalk outside a convenience store March 13, 2020 near Nanaimo and East First Avenue. The man who assaulted the senior yelled racist remarks at him.
In August 2020, a 61-year-old Filipina woman was shoved against her car with no apparent provocation in front of a grocery store in Vancouver. The incident was captured on security video, showing a Caucasian woman walking up behind her, shoving her into the side of the vehicle, then walking away.
https://globalnews.ca/news/7280328/woman-shoved-into-car-vancouver/
The victim’s family believes the incident was racially motivated, although police did not consider the incident as a racially-motivated hate crime.
These failures after failures of the state to protect our seniors amidst the increasing Asian hate crimes spark the question, “Who protects our seniors when police fail to protect us? Who will bring justice to our communities, and peace amidst these chaotic times?”
The stigmatization and hostility directed to Asians linked to the coronavirus is growing amidst the pandemic. With the coronavirus referred to as the “Chinese Virus”, the virus-related misinformations, discrimination and hostility against Asian communities increases.
Numerous incidents of hate crimes have been reported from the East Coast to the West Coast In North America. Many more acts of crimes targeting Asians are believed unreported.
Related articles:
https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/asian-heritage-month-2020-in-canada-amid st-covid-19/ https://philippinecanadiannews.com/canada/vancouver-proclaims-may-29-day-of-action- against-racism/