#asian hate crimes

[ausetkmt]

Police cuffed on Wednesday the man allegedly responsible for a slew of anti-Asian hate crimes in Midtown and Lower Manhattan.

According to police sources, 28-year-old Steven Zajonc, of East 32nd Street, allegedly committed no fewer than seven assaults in a 24-hour period on Feb. 27. Each of his victims were all women of Asian descent.

In each case, law enforcement sources said, Zajonc allegedly approached his victims and without saying a word struck them in the face and head before fleeing the area.

Police report that Zajonc allegedly appeared to be targeting his prey based on their race, and didn’t engage them in dialogue before attacking them. Twenty-eight-year-old Steven Zajonc is allegedly responsible for a slew of hate crimes. Photo by Dean Moses

Zajonc is charged with seven counts of hate crime assault, seven counts of attempted assault, seven counts of aggravated harassment, and seven counts of harassment. The suspect remained silent as officers led him away in cuffs, refusing to answer why he carried out the attacks.

This comes after Chinatown locals not only decry the ever-rising number of anti-Asian hate crimes, but also the targets who are often either female or elderly. Twenty-eight-year-old Steven Zajonc is allegedly responsible for a slew of hate crimes. Photo by Dean Moses

[transgenderuwo]

STOP: it's not the goddamn year of the dragon yet

Hold on posting your goddamn culturally Christian ass solar new year greetings that clumsily use east Asian lunar new year elements. We gotta do this song and dance every single time because y'all still refuse to do any research. Lunar new year is never on January 1; it is ALWAYS after solar new year. Lunar new year 2024 is on February 10th – save yourself some embarrassment please you're better than this

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

Jack van Tongeren is the former leader of the West Australian Neo-Nazi group Australian Nationalist Movement (ANM), a white supremacist and far-right group, and a successor organisation called the Australian Nationalist Worker's Union (ANWU). He served 13 years in prison from 1989 to 2002 for theft and arson, having robbed and firebombed businesses owned by Asians in Western Australia. In the late 1980s it was revealed Van Tongeren's father was of part-Javanese ancestry. Nevertheless, Van Tongeren resumed anti-Asian activities upon his release in 2002, leading to further convictions, in 2006.

In 2023, Crispian Chan wrote an article about his experience of anti-Asian racism in Australia. He produced the ABC Unravel: Firebomb podcast, documenting his journey after his family’s was one of six Chinese restaurants firebombed by the ANM in the 1980’s.

[miawashere]

hate crime awareness month

october is the hate crime awareness month, to bring to light all the hate crimes that go on in the U.S. but go unnoticed. according to splcenter.org, hate crimes have been increasing, and 10,840 have been reported since 2021. most of which have been asian hate. i hope the victims of all hate crimes get the justice they deserve, and the people who commit the crimes get what they deserve.

[baifengxis]

I know it's on me for looking too many comments and reviews about my favorite shows but do you guys ever feel like people just don't know how to like something anymore? Especially when it comes to tv-shows. It's like everyone's so ready to tear something apart, to be disappointed, to be proven right that a show is terrible like they thought it would be. I'm not talking about constructive criticism nor am I talking about being fairly disappointed over something but not only people love being negative but if you dare say that you love a show they all dislike you have to apologize because how dare you? And if you tell them to stop with the negativity because you just WANT TO ENJOY A MFUCKING TV SHOW when everything in this world is shit, they'll tell you you're censoring their opinions. Like it's not that deep please for the love of god, just let people enjoy things, if you don't like something THAT'S FINE but you don't have to make long essays explaining why and not let other people who do like it, enjoy it.

[joshualunacreations]

We often talk about how white supremacy uses the Model Minority Myth as a wedge, but rarely talk about how Black Americans adopt racism and jingoism against Asians domestically and abroad. (Please don’t repost or edit my art. Reblogs are always appreciated.)

If you enjoy my comics, please pledge to my Patreon or donate to my Paypal.

[thewingedwolf]

a lot of my free time is spent listening to a podcast run and researched by a professor of genocide studies who went into those studies specifically bc in an attempt to escape the violence of his angry, alcoholic father he signed up to go off to war in afghanistan only to realize that the whole war and war in general is a) stupid & boring and b) a series of horrific war crimes that had made the civilian population deeply suspicious of him even tho His Morals Were In The Right Place (tm). when he got home and threw himself into being anti violence, joining anarchist orgs & studying theory & trying to understand why he was sent to the other side of the world to be traumatized for no good reason while traumatizing the local population with his very presence, his shithead father died & he found out that his father was Like That bc their family was chased out of armenia because of genocide and it kicked off a cycle of violence & anger in the men of his family. he absolutely lost his shit, got his degree in genocide studies, and moved to armenia (do not ask me how he convinced his wife to do this with him. he’s really open about every other aspect of his life except his wife and kids which is imo very valid).

all that to say, he has this interesting perspective of war in that he has this cultural trauma of being the victim of a horrific crime while also himself being the perpetrator of imperialism & serving in an area that had recently been the site of several horrific war crimes (really similar to tim o’brien, who served in my lai several months after the massacre but didn’t know the massacre had happened & pieced together what happened from the horrified whispers of the civilians & brags from soldiers). it makes him both hyper critical of soldiers who do terrible things & empathetic to soldiers who are forced from home to do terrible things & angry on behalf of civilians who are victims of war crimes. i have ragged on him for being Very Midwestern about certain things but his research is interesting & sad & well done, & it’s really made me think about my own place in The Greater World & every time the internet loses its mind over some aspect of history i am violently reminded that most people just look at history and go “but MY SIDE was justified actually” when that’s such a BABY IDEA OF HOW HISTORY AND WAR WORKS.

[wildlyfreemoon]

WAIT (S7EP1) DID NEGAN KILL GLENN??? THE **ONLY** ASIAN CHARACTER?

[eatend]

⸻ maybe I should keep dropping hot takes , maybe i can get perma blocked by Laios wanters. In all seriousness though ! I do have a lot of disagreement with fanon collective hc ╱ view on him.

⇢ laios likes women, laios likes women, laios likes women ⇢ laios has a weird crush on marcille ! ⇢ laios has no trauma that made him dislike humanity, he just is ⇢ laios parents aren't even that bad they were just regular ass parents that needed laios to be normal for ONE second ( dead ass his nightmare is getting a proper job and getting a proper family. ) ⇢ laios was wrong for that toushiro name incident ⇢ his autism / mental illness is not an excuse for his offensive and awful treatment of people's boundaries ⇢ his family were pretty well off, laios is a privilege white man ⇢ he was a shit brother and a terrible friend.

[icedsodapop]

I find it so interesting that when Mark Wahlberg's hate crimes got brought up in light of the SAG Awards, you can see the anti-woke assholes in the comments section saying that people should "let it go" since Mark Wahlberg "was a kid" when it happened, that "people can grow and learn from mistakes they made as a teen", and these assholes always bring up the fact that his victim, Johnny Trinh, forgave him.

But, it's soo interesting that Mark Wahlberg's defenders conveniently left out his other victim, Kristyn Atwood, a little Black girl who was part of the group of mostly Black middle-schoolers he and his friends pelted stones at, hurled racial slurs at. His other victim who defintely DOES NOT forgive him, who also was a kid herself in the fourth grade when Marky Mark and his buddies decided to assault her and her schoolmates.

These assholes said that Mark Wahlberg has grown and learn from his mistakes, but did he really? How would they know?? Did he really learn from his mistakes when he tried to expunge his criminal record to start his shitty burger chain? Did he personally apologize to Jess Coleman (who was 12 y/o then) and his siblings for harassing them while they were just walking home from school because they were Black? Has Marky Mark ever reckoned with how his white privilege had a part to play for his lenient sentencing (2 yrs jail, he served a mere 45 days), for his oppprtunity to move on? After all, Black and Brown people have been dealt harsher sentences for far less. And apart from paying lip service to George Floyd's murder and BLM, has Marky Mark actually donated to Black Lives Matter? Or Stop Asian Hate? Or any Black and AAPI advocacy groups? Or fuck, any gofundmes?? Has he advocated for defunding the police or gun control?

And finally, these assholes act as if just because ONE victim forgave him, Mark Wahlberg's crimes are automatically absolved and we can all move on. That's not what forgiveness means? It's up to Johnny Trinh's perogative to forgive him and I respect that, but Trinh's decision to grant his attacker grace does not mean that Black people and other Asian people aren't allowed to be angry over Mark Walhberg's actions and the lack of consequences that followed them.

I keep thinking about Roxane Gay's interview with NPR on not forgiving Dylan Roof, how forgiveness is often weaponized against Black, Indigenous and other people of color. The idea that we have to let it go because it's in the past. But we can't let it go because what Mark Walhberg did is sadly not unique, he's just one of the many racist assholes who commited hate crimes against BIPOC, crimes that are still happening now.

And it's hypocritical to expect Black and Asian people to forgive and forget what Mark Walhberg has done, when the same grace was not afforded to Will Smith. So, who does "forgive and forget" actually serve?

[nirbanox]

Cold Fish (2010)

Directed by : Sion Sono

[ausetkmt]

A baby-faced 14-year-old boy has been accused of trying to murder a black teenager by attempting to drown him in a Cape Cod pond. 

John Sheeran appeared at a court just outside Boston on Monday over the July incident, which allegedly saw him hurl racist slurs at his unnamed victim - and even call the teen 'George Floyd' during the drowning attempts. 

He wore a navy suit, shirt and tie. Despite prosecutors' calls for Sheeran to remain in custody, a judge released him with a tag and ordered him to remain at his father's home.  

The victim told law enforcement Sheeran started throwing rocks at him and calling him racial slurs after he showed up at Goose Pond on Cape Cod. Sheeran then threatened to beat up the victim, it is alleged.

The victim couldn't swim, so he wore a life jacket in the water. Despite the vest, Sheeran attempted to pull him under the water multiple times to the point that victim was no longer able to breathe, it is alleged. 

In July, Sheeran allegedly attempted to drown a black teen in Goose Pond (pictured) in Chatham, Massachusetts

The victim told police that the accused 'held on to my life jacket and pulled me underwater and back up about four-to-five times ... while doing it water got into my mouth and nose and I could not breathe.'

Afterwards, the victim said Sheeran began calling him 'George Floyd' while kicking him and pulling him beneath the water. 

The victim said he was screaming he couldn't breathe, which was when the suspect and another teenager at the scene 'started laughing and called me George Floyd.'

He continued crying for help as the two teens continued to pull him under the water. Eventually, bystanders arrived to help and the victim was saved. The other alleged attacker hasn't been identified - and it is unclear if Sheeran knew his alleged victim prior to the attack.

Prosecutors allege just several hours later, Sheeran punched an Asian child in the face. That child has not been identified. 

Sheeran was charged with attempted murder and a civil rights violation in connection to the case.

In court on Monday, baby-faced Sheeran was led into the room with his hands cuffed in front of him.

His mop of brown hair turned downward as he took a seat before the judge. He wore a blue suit and striped tie.

Over objections from prosecutors, Sheeran was released to home confinement in Chatham. His release includes wearing a GPS monitoring device that will confine him to his father's home. He is also required to continue reporting to juvenile probation.

Prosecutors argued Sheeran should remain in jail, calling him a danger to the community.

The victim said Sheeran began calling him George Floyd as he screamed that he couldn't breathe. Floyd infamously told officers that he couldn't breathe before he died during an altercation with Minneapolis cops in 2020

Sheeran was released to his father's custody. Earlier this summer, he had moved to Florida with his mother as his parents went through a divorce

The suspect allegedly began the criminal interaction by throwing rocks at the victim and calling him racial slurs

'Mr. Sheeran can’t be out in the community because whether it’s three o’clock in the afternoon at a pond with his friends where he should be able to behave or 8:15 at night when he runs into another child, he punches that kid,' said Assistant District Attorney Eileen Moriarty in court.

'He’s a violent child, we’ve heard no mitigating factors, this violence is unfortunately targeted towards children of other races, children that don’t look like him,' she added.

At the time of the incident, Sheeran had just moved to Florida with his mother, as his parents went through a divorce, according to prosecutors.

The teen will now be required to stay in Chatham with his father as the court case continues.

[laniidae-passerine]

being a lightskinned desi wasian is so frightening because I will just be going about my day thinking I look like a white girl before immediately being clocked by another south asian person in a way that feels like getting punched in the face

[babbybones]

i don't want to start shit with anyone but i saw this tag in the notes of that last post and i'm officially feeling Weird about it in a way that is kind of related to why i became disillusioned with fandom blogging in the first place. i'm not even seething about it i'm just saggy deflated balloon

[wingstobetorn]

Being biracial funny as hell I will be here as a non-white passing wasian with beautiful brown eyes walking around with my dad who is so white his blue eyes stare straight into your soul

[peridot-tears]

Vagueblogging again!

I think a lot about the argument fandom racists make. It's always "fandom isn't activism," "go do some real activism," etc. etc.

Like, one -- I think quite a few of us have done "real" activism. Organizing, protesting, fundraising, information-sharing, all that good stuff. Especially in these past few years. You can't be Asian American without having at least brushed with activism lately.

Two -- telling someone that what they said hurts or disrespects your culture is not activism. That's literally just an everyday interaction. You could have learned something and accepted it, but the moment you dismissed it and dug your heels in, then yeah, you're making it a way bigger deal than it has to be.

Three -- Asian Americans have always organized, protested, and advocated for better rights on all fronts. The bill in Florida recently passed is part of a years-long effort to make Asian American history part of school curricula (its effects are for another post entirely), Asian Americans in various organizations have been tirelessly doing research, petitioning and lobbying for better healthcare and economic aid access. The burst of Asian American shows like "Beef" and "Everything Everywhere All At Once" are part of a DECADES-long push to have our stories told in ways that aren't stereotypical and degrading. Not to mention to make sure we get equal pay in the workplace.

People have always committed hate crimes against us, but because of COVID, it jumped to a point where there was actual media coverage outside of the community. It got so big, no one could ignore us anymore. It was good to get aid from outside the community, but even now, the people organizing self-defense classes, patrolling Asian dominant neighborhoods and walking with elders so they can go places without being attacked, the people organizing food drives for those of us who are lower-income, raising money for the victims of hate crimes, fighting for us in our court cases against attackers, pushing for our voices to be heard, are us Asian Americans.

It's a lot of work. It's also a lot of work to rally people to our cause, because so many people outside the community, especially white people, will not listen, let alone help in any meaningful way, unless you convince them why they personally should care. To be BIPOC at all in North America is to do the emotional labor that white people think you owe them.

So tell me. If true activism is so important to you, why aren't you doing it?

And you know how I know you aren't doing it? Because if you can't be bothered to listen to an Asian person in small, casual, everyday interactions, what makes you think you're equipped to help us advocate for large social change?