Mineola vigil message: Faith, love will end attacks on Asian Americans

Community members, faith leaders and elected officials bowed their heads in silence at a vigil Thursday night in Mineola to mourn the victims of hate crimes and call for unity amid recent attacks nationwide targeting Asian Americans.

The rally, organized by the Nassau County Office of Asian American Affairs and County Executive Laura Curran, attracted an ethnically diverse crowd of about 100 — Asian American advocates, children with their parents, and others there to show support. Some attendees held a single white rose each while others clutched small, flickering electronic candles.

"We owe it to our elderly to not only protect them from verbal and physical assaults and help them when they are hurting but also to listen to their journeys and our families’ histories," Olivia Wong, 17, a senior at New Hyde Park Memorial High School, told the crowd.

"There are things of beauty, determination and resilience in their stories that make us proud to be Asian Americans," she said.

Earlier Thursday at the same place where Wong and others gathered, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced his support for a bill that would give the U.S. Department of Justice and local law enforcement more tools to combat the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the pandemic.

The "COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act" was introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) last month.

If passed, the legislation would require U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to designate a department employee to do an expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes and issue guidance to law enforcement on establishing online reporting of hate crimes in multiple languages.

"The fear in the Asian community and the threat of violence and harassment against its members should be a topic of national conversation," Schumer said. " … The Asian American community is quintessentially American. We stand by them. We will continue to stand by them until all this hate is eradicated."

The proposal would require the attorney general and secretary of Health and Human Services to work with the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, created in February by President Joe Biden's administration, and community organizations, to issue best practices to "mitigate racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic."

Some advocates and experts have tied the surge of anti-Asian crimes during the pandemic to the economic downturn and the rhetoric of politicians like former President Donald Trump, who repeatedly called COVID-19 the "China virus."

Vanna Ye, a Chinese American, and a member of Nassau’s Asian American Advisory Council, said the words of a leader matter.

"I’m very happy that we have a community and elected officials on the federal level stand in solidarity to condemn the hate," said Ye, of Manhasset Hills, at Schumer's news conference. "It’s about time. Enough is enough."

Ye said she planned to attend a #StopAsianHate rally in Manhattan’s Koreatown later Thursday despite fear over her safety on public transit.

"I’m afraid that the instances that happened will happen to me," she said. "But I think I need to go to stand up [against hate]."

Violent assaults nationwide in recent months have put the Asian American community on high alert.

Video footage has shown Asian elders and subway riders shoved and attacked. In San Francisco, an 84-year-old Thai man died after being slammed to the pavement in January. Closer to home in New York City, the NYPD reported 28 hate crime incidents involving Asians, up from three in 2019. Earlier this week, a 65-year-old Asian woman on her way to church was kicked and stomped in Hell’s Kitchen.

At the vigil Thursday night, one woman brought a painting she made earlier in the day, depicting a young Asian woman accompanied by the words: "We are not silent. I’m not your scapegoat."

Before the vigil started, Rev. Binu Thomas of Great Neck said he came to the rally to show solidarity.

"It’s important that we all support each other," said Thomas, an Indian American and associate pastor at the Edge City Church in Mineola. "When it comes to [racial] injustice, we tend to stay in our bubble — African Americans in African American bubble, Asian Americans in Asian American bubble, Hispanic Americans in their bubble. … That’s what we’ve done in the past too often. And I think things are starting to change."

Bishop Lionel Harvey from the First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury assured those gathered that hope will prevail.

"I know that we are going to have faith over fear, I know that we are going to have love over hate," he said amid a steady and chilly wind. "I know that as we continue to press toward the mark and keep focused, a place of agreement is always a place of power."

Wong, the high school student, and a second generation Chinese American, ended her remarks with a plea for change.

"A single candle can [light] one person but 1,000 can light a path for everyone," she said. "I implore you to be the spark that changes the narrative for us all."