KPIX 5's Asians Under Attack: The Bay Area Reacts

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Attacks on Asian Americans are on the rise in the San Francisco Bay Area since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday night, the KPIX 5 news team took an indepth look into the troubling trend.

Replay KPIX 5's Asians Under Attack: The Bay Area Reacts Special
SAN FRANCISCO -- If you didn't get a chance to watch the special live or want to re-watch the report in its entirety, we have posted it on the website. Watch The Special

KPIX 5 Staff Testimonials
KPIX 5's Andrea Nakano Experienced Racism In Both The Bay Area And Japan
SAN FRANCISCO -- While growing in Japan, Andrea Nakano encountered racism as a Gaijin -- a child of bi-racial parents. When she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after high school, she encountered racism because of her Asian heritage. Click For More

Images Of Elderly Attack Victims Haunt KPIX 5's Sharon Chin
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sharon Chin's family arrived in California in the 1850s and has been a part of the state's rich history. Sharon says she has been haunted by the images of the elderly victims. They could be her relatives. Click For More

Kiet Do Recalls Being Called A Hateful Slur While Covering A Crash
SAN FRANCISCO -- Racism can rear its ugly head anywhere, anytime. Early in his career, Kiet Do worked as a young reporter at a Georgia television station when he was assigned to cover a freeway crash and became a victim of a racial slur. Click For More

Mary Lee On Her Family's Long Heritage In The Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- Stories about the stunning escalation of violence against Asian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area have struck close to home for KPIX 5 meteorologist Mary Lee. Lee's family has lived here for generations. She was born in Berkeley, grew up in Fairfield and is a proud UC Davis Aggie. Click For More

Asian American Attack Reports

A Guide For Parents Struggling To Explain Hate Crimes To Their Children
SAN FRANCISCO -- The ongoing, nationwide attacks on the AAPI community are forcing Asian American parents into tense, complex discussions on race and racism within their immediate family. "A lot of families shy away from that conversation because it's difficult to talk about, especially if you don't know the answers yourself," said Jennifer Pham, Director of the Family and Children Division, for Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services. Race is seldomly discussed, if at all, amongst many Asian families, according to Dr. Mari Kurahashi, Co-Director of the Stanford Parenting Center, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, at Stanford Medicine. Click For More

Social Media Surveillance Video Posts Silence Doubters Of Asian-American Attacks
SAN FRANCISCO -- Asian-American leaders say the recent unprovoked attacks that were caught on tape have forced people to act and speak up. They could no longer discredit them or ignore the ongoing violence. "They were saying that 'we don't see it.' So with these videos, people are finally seeing that it's actually happening," said Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. "The videos are doing justice." Chan said whether it's a hate crime or crime of opportunity, these attacks go back decades. While the number of attacks has gone up, what's new is they're now caught on tape and social media allows more people to see them, which is prompting action. Click For More

Investigators Work to Determine If Atlanta Spa Killings Were Hate Crimes
SAN JOSE -- Outrage has swept across the country from those who believe investigators overlooking the mass shooting case in Georgia should charge the suspect with a hate crime. "To me that's clearly a hate crime, it seems to me he sought out a place where there were Asian women, he executed them and he murdered them," said Asian Law Alliance Executive Director Richard Konda. On Tuesday, Robert Aaron Long was arrested after he allegedly shot and killed eight people at three Atlanta-based spas. Six of the victims were Asian. On Wednesday, the day after the shooting, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office held a news conference that has since caused backlash toward investigators who spoke. Click For More

Attacks On Asian Americans On The Rise In The Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- Graphic videos of elderly Asians being attacked in the Bay Area have not let up. A new video out of Daly City shows a 69-year-old woman getting assaulted and robbed this past Thursday. From Oakland to San Francisco, elderly Asians minding their own business have been beat up, knocked down and robbed - much of the violence has been caught on video. Vicha Ratanapaknee, 84, died from his injuries in January. He was shoved to the ground from behind. Pak Ho, 75, was pushed to the pavement and robbed in Oakland. He died from his injuries earlier this month. This past week alone, there were three separate attacks on elderly Asian people on or near busy Market Street in San Francisco in broad daylight. Click For More

San Francisco Rally Brings Diverse Communities Together to Condemn Asian Hate
SAN FRANCISCO -- People from different racial backgrounds and ages showed up at Harvey Milk plaza in the Castro District Sunday to denounce the killing of eight people in Georgia. The rally and march created a safe space for the AAPI community to grieve, to heal and lean on one another for support. "If you're Asian and you're hurting, I know, and it's OK because I'm hurting too," said Eugene Clifton Cha of San Francisco. Cha encouraged the crowd to speak their stories and share their pain and frustrations. "A lot of my friends are feeling unsafe at the moment so, just like they showed up for us during the Black Lives Matter rally, I wanted to show up for them," said Juan Cruz of San Francisco. Click For More

Angered by Asian American Attacks, Hundreds Rally in San Jose to Demand Change
SAN JOSE -- A grassroots anti-hate rally brought out a very large crowd in San Jose Sunday afternoon. Rally participants said they were fed up with the model minority label and they would no longer stay silent. State assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) fired up the crowd by asking "what is our collective response to being called a model minority, being silent? What do we say? F** that! No more." Speakers and rally-goers said they were tired of being the pandemic scapegoat. "We don't have a choice of being silent anymore," said Amy Nguyen with the organization Vietnamese American Roundtable. They were uniting to stand up and speak out against the increased violence targeting the Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Click For More

San Francisco Officials Demand School Board VP's Resignation Over 'Racist, Anti-Asian' Tweets
SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayor London Breed was among a group of elected officials Saturday who were demanding the resignation of School Board Vice President Alison Collins after several "racist, anti-Asian" Twitter posts came to light. The firestorm over Collins 2016 social media comments is just the latest involving the embattled leadership of San Francisco schools. The city has a pending lawsuit against the board, seeking a court order to speed up the reopening public schools that have been shut down for more than a year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews announced he was stepping down from his post at the end of June amid the ongoing and contentious reopening battle. Click For More

Asian American Attack Resources
Asian Americans Advancing Justice
https://www.standagainsthatred.org/resources
Stop AAPI Hate
https://donate.givedirect.org/?cid=14711
Hate is a Virus
https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/community-action-fund