Outrage In Essex County: ‘We Stand With The Asian Community’ – Patch.com
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Broken hearts, dueling emotions of anger and sadness, and a massive outcry for change. These are some of the feelings being reported among officials, community leaders and residents throughout Essex County, New Jersey in the wake of shootings that claimed at least eight lives in Georgia on Tuesday.
According to authorities, a gunman opened fire at three massage parlors across the metro Atlanta area. Cherokee County Sheriff’s Capt. Jay Baker said the gunman admitted to the killings and blamed the massage parlors for fueling his sex addiction. Read More: Metro Atlanta Massage Parlor Shootings (5 Things To Know)
Although many of the victims are of Asian descent, officials have said it’s too early in the investigation to know if the shootings were “racially motivated.” However, many advocates have since expressed fear in the wake of the shootings, and have pointed to a reported rise in anti-Asian violence since the pandemic began.
Those offering condolences – and admonishing – included New Jersey Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, an East Orange resident.
“We stand in solidarity with the Asian American community in Atlanta, here in New Jersey, and around the country,” the lieutenant governor said.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Newark resident, said his “heart breaks for the victims of yet another hateful act of gun violence.”
“Keeping the victims and their loved ones, the people of Atlanta and the AAPI community in my prayers,” Booker wrote.
New Jersey’s other U.S. senator, Bob Menendez, also said his heart was “broken.”
“This violence has to stop,” Menendez said. “Action must be taken.”
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who represents the state’s 11th Congressional District, also offered her condolences.
“My heart goes out to Atlanta, especially the Asian American community,” Sherrill said Wednesday. “Last night’s horrific attack lies at the intersection of so many crises that continue to face this country – violence against women, gun violence and white supremacy.”
U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., who represents the 10th District, said he “condemns the abuse and assault that has happened to Asian Americans during his pandemic in the strongest words possible.”
“Hate and violence have no place in America at all,” Payne said. “These attacks must stop because they are cowardly attempts to scapegoat and blame Americans for a pandemic that started thousands of miles away. Thankfully, we have a president who supports diversity and will protect all Americans in his language and his actions. It is time for us to come together as a country and that includes all Americans.”
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former astronaut originally from West Orange, called the shootings “heartbreaking.”
“Law enforcement is investigating, but the fact remains that violence against the [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] community is on the rise and must be addressed now,” Kelly stated.
The Livingston Township Council and mayor issued a joint statement condemning the violence, writing that they were “horrified” by the shootings.
“The town council and the entirety of Livingston stands behind our Asian community with support and love,” the council stated. “Livingston is blessed to be diverse – it is our strength. If someone attacks part of us, they are attacking all of us. We stand together, and those who would attack Asian-Americans have no place here.”
Top officers at the New Jersey Education Association, including Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, who also serves at the NJEA’s vice president, said they were “angered and saddened” by the violence.
“No one should have to fear for their safety because of how they look, where their family once lived, the language they speak or any of the other differences that a healthy society accepts, honors and celebrates,” the NJEA stated. “We condemn the hateful bigotry that alienates us from one another and perpetuates white supremacy. All of us share the responsibility to confront and challenge racist language, actions, structures and institutions before words turn into physical violence and physical violence leads to death.”
Just a few towns away, the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race “strongly condemned” discrimination and violence against Asian Americans in a Wednesday statement.
“We must continue our community’s pro-integrative work and our activism,” the group wrote. “Truly racially inclusive communities will only be so if they stand in solidarity with any group that experiences hate crimes and bias.”
Across the county, several YMCAs, including the West Essex YMCA, the East Orange YMCA and the South Mountain YMCA, posted a joint statement decrying violence against the Asian community in the week leading up to the shootings.
In Newark, Rutgers Law School co-deans Kimberly Mutcherson and David Lopez offered a message to the Rutgers community on Wednesday:
“Coupled with the increase of violent hate crimes targeting members of the AAPI community over the past year, we are deeply concerned about the safety of AAPI communities in our country. We stand in solidarity with the victims, their families, and the AAPI community and condemn these acts and all forms of xenophobia, bigotry, and racism. We believe, as we always have, that everyone deserves to live in safety and without fear of violence of any kind, including violence rooted in racial animus. We believe in a world united against unimaginable hate and intolerance, and we will continue to do all we can to ensure that our Rutgers Law community upholds an inclusive culture.”
Local advocacy group Newark Water Coalition also decried the shootings, pointing out that one of their organizers was born in Japan and raised in the Brick City.
“I grew up in Japan and moved to the states at a young age,” she wrote. “Before moving, I never had the concept of different ethnicities or nationalities. It wasn’t until I started going to school when I realized I would be treated differently being Asian.”
The Newark-based New Jersey Performing Arts Center said it stands in solidarity with “people of every heritage” following the shootings.
“Today we offer our love and support to the Asian American Pacific Islander community,” the nonprofit stated in a social media post. “The horrific attacks that occurred in Atlanta yesterday are unconscionable and the surge of racist violence directed at our Asian American neighbors must end.”
The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, which is active in Newark and other North Jersey cities, said their thoughts are with the people of Georgia.
“In the last year, anti-Asian hate incidents rose 150 percent, mostly against Asian women in the U.S.,” the group said. “Still, too many of our nation’s leaders refuse to acknowledge or address it for what it is: racism.”
Labor union 32BJ SEIU, which has a large presence at Newark Airport, said the shootings are “another example of anti-Asian American hate crimes.”
“Racism and discrimination cause all working people to suffer,” the union stated. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims.”
Racism isn’t unique to Georgia, however. Some people of Asian descent have also reported that they’ve recently experienced racial bias in Essex County, too.
In February 2020, a 33-year-old Jersey City resident said she was walking in Montclair when a male said, ‘Go back to China,’ made a slur regarding her heritage and spat in her direction. The suspect was described as an “older white male.”
For others, their experiences have been a wake-up call that racism exists even in “progressive” areas of the country.
“The last three years have been painful and frustrating for me,” a woman stated on a Patch Verona-Cedar Grove op-ed in February, alleging that she’s been harassed and bullied by people in Montclair, West Orange and Cedar Grove, among other New Jersey towns.
“As an Asian American woman who was adopted by an Italian and German American family from Long Island, New York at 7-months-old, I felt white,” she wrote. “Most of my friends growing up were white. My husband is white, which means my teenage son is half-white. But four years of [former] President Trump’s administration and this last year of the COVID-19 pandemic have compelled me to identify as ‘Other.'”
“I learned that certain people feel very comfortable harassing a small Asian American woman because I am an easy target,” she continued. “I also learned that racists exist in one of the most ‘progressive’ areas in New Jersey in one of the most ‘progressive’ states in the Union.”
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