NEWBURGH – Elected officials and members of Asian American organizations led by Senator James Skoufis (D- Cornwall) were in Newburgh on Wednesday to denounce the recent string of violence targeted at Asian Americans in the nation.
Following last week’s mass murder at Asian American spas in Atlanta, Skoufis said that hate crimes against Asian Americans have risen 150 percent in the last year, although hate crimes targeted at other minorities have dropped.
He said the entire Hudson Valley community needs to stand in solidarity to make clear that there is no place for Asian American hate in the Hudson Valley, the state, or anywhere else.
“Over the past year, we have seen a sharp uptick in crimes against Asian Americans. This is not a coincidence. It is a result of hateful and discriminatory rhetoric and it must stop. Tragically, it took the shooting rampage in Atlanta for the rest of America to finally pay attention to what the AAPI community has been enduring. Let me be blunt. Hate crimes have no place in Atlanta, the Hudson Valley, New York State or anywhere in America,” said Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh).
President of the Orange County Chinese Association, Kangjian Wu, said it is disheartening to see the same conversations surrounding Asian American bigotry that happened in 1881 still occurring in 2021. He said it is time to make a stand.
“Enough is enough,” said Wu. “We have to stand up to bigotry. We cannot allow racism to go unchecked. We cannot afford to stay silent, both for ourselves and for the generation to come,” he said.
Senator John Liu (D-Flushing) who is one of the first Asian Americans voted into a statewide office, said he is no stranger to discrimination and he had hoped those days were behind him, but he is seeing the same prejudiced sentiments.
“I grew up my share of racism and I thought that was long past and this year reminds me that we need to stay ever vigilant and we need to make sure that we are seen for what we are,” said Liu. “Asian Americans, we are Americans. We are not these foreigners, don’t tell us to go back from where we came from,” he said.
Lawmakers said they will remain vigilant and take action. Skoufis said when they return to Albany, officials will begin looking at potential changes to state hate crime legislation, as well as potential funding for Asian Americans in this upcoming budget.
“We will stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends until this ends,” he said.
