CLEVELAND — Physical and verbal attacks against Asian Americans have grown significantly in the past year due to the false belief that Asian people are to blame for the spread of the coronavirus.
Anti-Asian hate incident reports nearly doubled in March, according to the organization Stop AAPI Hate. A white gunman was charged with killing eight people in three separate spas during a violent night in Atlanta. Six of the victims were Asian women.
Former President Donald Trump even referred to COVID-19 as the “China virus” or the “Kung flu.” Ohio's Lt. Gov. Jon Husted referred to coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus" and was criticized by the Asian American community in Columbus.
Asian Americans have used the pandemic-fueled hate to spread more awareness around hate crimes. Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations (AAPI) have also been hard at work to support communities impacted by the violence.
Wednesday night, we presented our latest A Turning Point panel discussion focused on our Northeast Ohio AAPI community.
3News contributor, poet, filmmaker, and performer Chris Webb moderated the discussion along with Digital Producter Dave "Dino" DeNatale. Our panelists were:
- Jami Kinton Sluss - In-Game Host for Cleveland Indians, Q104 Personality, commercial actress
- Zosimo Maximo - CEO of GrooveRyde, filmmaker
- James Pizarro - Founder of Red Bicycle Media, Director of Photography, medical doctor
Watch the entire discussion again in the player below:
Katie Kim of 11Alive in Atlanta contributed to this story
More A Turning Point panel discussions:
- A Turning Point panel discussion: Stop the Hate
- A Turning Point panel discussion: The role race plays in the Derek Chauvin trial
- A Turning Point panel discussion: Moments in time that altered their Black History
- 'Turning Point Moments': Sara Shookman and Dave DeNatale lead panel with 4 Clevelanders about their views on systemic racism