More than a hundred people, including Tram Kieu (center), gather at Tower Square in downtown Lincoln for a candlelight vigil remembering the victims of a March shooting in Atlanta.
JUSTIN WAN, Journal Star file photo
More than a hundred people, including Xia Hong, gather Thursday at Tower Square in downtown Lincoln for a candlelight vigil hosted by the Asian Community and Cultural Center remembering the victims of a recent shooting in Atlanta.
Mu Wah was wiping down a cart at a Lincoln grocery store last April when a man pretended to spit on her before he walked away, laughing.
Wah, a 22-year-old college student, was rattled by the experience and wanted to speak to a store manager. But a family member told her not to worry about it, to let the whole thing go. Wah believes the man, who was white, targeted her, an Asian American, just as misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold in the U.S.
"At that time, it was really hard to believe that some people were treating others like that," said Wah, who is Karen and lived in the Mae La refugee camp between Thailand and Burma before moving to Lincoln in 2012. "I never had anything (like) that happened to me before, so I was kind of surprised. It made me mad."Â
That experience for Wah, who studies criminal justice at Peru State, is one of thousands of incidents of anti-Asian hate in the U.S. spurred by the pandemic and false perceptions of the coronavirus — including the belief Chinese citizens are to blame for COVID-19.
One stark example: Six people of Asian descent were killed in shootings at three Atlanta businesses earlier this month. No motive for the mass shooting has been made official.
Wah avoided social media after the attack. She's afraid she'll be targeted again, like that time at the store.Â
"Every time when I walk to classes and go to school, it kind of worries me that I'm going to get hurt," she said.
On Thursday, more than 200 people gathered at Tower Square on P Street for a candlelight vigil to show solidarity against anti-Asian discrimination. The event was hosted by the Asian Community and Cultural Center, Nebraska Appleseed, the Karen Society of Nebraska and the Lincoln Chinese Cultural Association.
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird joined a number of other speakers who called out discrimination, saying "our community has not been immune" to racial hate.
"To those who feel vulnerable, I want you to know that you belong here in Lincoln," Gaylor Baird said. "Our diversity, identities, perspectives and backgrounds are a core strength of our city."
Chris Heselton came Thursday to show support to Asian Americans. He said he's heard of incidents of anti-Asian discrimination in Lincoln since the pandemic started.
"I think the biggest thing is to speak out and to be vocal in calling out issues of anti-Asian hate," Heselton said. "I think (the vigil) is a way of sort of saying that it's unacceptable behavior."
Asian American discrimination is not new, but COVID-19 inflamed the hate, said Rebecca Reinhardt, the cultural program coordinator at the Asian Community and Cultural Center. The center offers resources to Asian Americans and works with Lincoln police to report suspected hate crimes. Following the Atlanta shootings, Reinhardt said the center reached out to local Asian businesses to see if they needed anything.
While the center has not heard of any hate crimes targeted at Asians, Reinhardt says it's heard more anecdotal incidents, such as Wah's, since March 2020. The Lincoln Police Department also has not reported any hate crimes targeted at Asian Americans in 2020, according to department records.Â
Police spokesperson Erin Spilker said that doesn't mean incidents aren't happening.Â
"It is possible that instances that would be classified as a hate crime may have happened in our community where a police report was not filed," Spilker said in an email. "We want to encourage those who have been the victim of a hate crime to report the incidents to police."
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The lack of reports highlights what Reinhardt and Wah identify as a reluctance by Asian Americans to step forward with their stories.
"They'll tell you that it's their own business. They don't want to tell people, to lose face," Reinhardt said. "I think that's the issue. ... They choose silence. That makes our job harder, because we have to challenge this. We're here. We want to help, but if you don't come to us, we don't know how to help."
Alan Wang was loading things into his car in a parking lot in Omaha when someone told him to "go back to China and take your (expletive) virus."
"You think you're prepared for anything that comes, but in that time, I remember thinking I was frozen, that I couldn't believe that this was going on here in my backyard basically," Wang said.
The incident was one of three he says occurred during the pandemic. Wang, the executive director of the Prairie STEM educational nonprofit in Omaha, felt he needed to share his story as the son of parents who immigrated from China and as a parent himself.
"I want to bring awareness to the hate, because I think people are living in their silos, going about their business, thinking that everything is fine," Wang said.
He also pointed to the rhetoric of the previous presidential administration — and specifically, calling the coronavirus the "China virus" — for enabling others.
"I've never lived and experienced times like I have in the last year," Wang said. "Certainly, people are more emboldened to say things that previously would've never been said."Â
Much of the anti-Asian hate has festered on social media. Asian Americans experienced the largest single rise in online hate and harassment compared with other minorities in 2020, according to an Anti-Defamation League report. Seventeen percent of Asian Americans reported being harassed online in 2020, compared with just 11% in 2019.
Lincoln is home to a number of large Asian communities, including Vietnamese and Karen populations. Many came here as refugees. Drive down North 27th Street, with its small, family-owned Asian businesses, and you can see they are thriving here.Â
"We are the people that came to the United States looking for a better life; we are just like other Americans," said Reinhardt, who is Asian. "We didn't make the virus; the virus doesn't choose the skin color or background."
Following the Atlanta shootings, Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Steve Joel sent a message to students and families denouncing the attack and supporting the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
"All of us need to speak up and speak out against acts of racism and hate. We need to provide support and listen," the statement read.
Wah hopes other Asian Americans share their stories of discrimination instead of bottling them up.
"For those people that experience this kind of stuff, I want them to come out and talk about it," she said. "Just don't keep it inside of you."
Craft brew fans and brewers from across the state crowded into Lincoln's Blue Blood Brewing Co. on Feb. 9 for a rally against a bill in the Legislature that opponents say would burden rural breweries and make it nearly impossible for craft brewers to open new taprooms to sell their products.
In response to recent local and national events, dozens turned up to support an end to a culture of rape and sexual assault during a rally Feb. 2 at the Capitol.
Laura Munoz (left) and Natasha Crawford (both of Lincoln) hold signs and battery-powered candles during a vigil for immigrants and refugees on Jan. 12 at Tower Square.
Veiled protesters from a national group called Betsy Riot hold signs during Gov. Pete Ricketts' speech at the Christmas tree lighting Dec. 11 at the Capitol. The center sign, written in Cyrillic, is translated as: "Trump is Putin's puppet."
Nearly 100 people, including activists and state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, gathered Nov. 20 on the west steps of the State Capitol for a candlelight vigil meant as a call for change in Whiteclay.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Ricardo Rodriguez holds a poster at a Nov. 18 rally organized by the Mexican-American Student Association outside the Nebraska Union.
From left, Sherri Robinson, Jessica Nickum and Kelly Seacrest hold signs condemning President Trump's plan to build a wall during the We Stand United event Nov. 12 at the Capitol in Lincoln.
Lincoln and specifically the Capitol have long been the site of demonstrations. Those protests have ramped up in recent months.
Supporters
FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act came together for a rally Feb. 25 outside the offices of Sen. Deb Fischer in the Lincoln Haymarket.
Kick Butts
COURTESY PHOTO
Lincoln youth participating in the Kick Butts Rally March 16 included (from left), Maya Gardner, Briann Wolfe, Hailey Holmer and Emily Holmer.
Public schools
ERIC GREGORY, Journal Star
Public school supporters rally on the west side of the Capitol on March 14.
Fischer protest
ERIC GREGORY, Journal Star
Protesters rally outside a Lincoln Independent Business Association luncheon at which Sen. Deb Fischer spoke on Feb. 21.
Craft brewing
FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Craft brew fans and brewers from across the state crowded into Lincoln's Blue Blood Brewing Co. on Feb. 9 for a rally against a bill in the Legislature that opponents say would burden rural breweries and make it nearly impossible for craft brewers to open new taprooms to sell their products.
Rally
KRISTIN STREFF, Journal Star
In response to recent local and national events, dozens turned up to support an end to a culture of rape and sexual assault during a rally Feb. 2 at the Capitol.
Refugee Rally
AMBER BAESLER, Journal Star file photo
Hundreds gathered in Lincoln for a candlelight vigil at the end of January opposing President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban.
Police
JAKE CRANDALL, Journal Star
Police tell protesters to clear the sidewalk as they throw paint-covered tampons at the Phi Gamma Delta house on Jan. 28.
School choice rally 2017
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Students, teachers and parents attend the school choice rally on Jan. 26 on the west side of the Capitol.
Women's March
NICK DONALDSON Courtesy photo
The Lincoln Women's March seen from an upper level of the the Capitol on Jan. 23.
Tower Square Vigil
MATT RYERSON, Journal Star file photo
Laura Munoz (left) and Natasha Crawford (both of Lincoln) hold signs and battery-powered candles during a vigil for immigrants and refugees on Jan. 12 at Tower Square.
Day Against Denial
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
Participants in Bold Nebraska's Day Against Denial, including Dan Ullman (left), gather Jan. 9 at Sen. Ben Sasse's Lincoln office.
Betsy Riot
JAMES WOOLDRIDGE, Journal Star
Veiled protesters from a national group called Betsy Riot hold signs during Gov. Pete Ricketts' speech at the Christmas tree lighting Dec. 11 at the Capitol. The center sign, written in Cyrillic, is translated as: "Trump is Putin's puppet."
Praying for Whiteclay
Kevin Abourezk
Nearly 100 people, including activists and state Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, gathered Nov. 20 on the west steps of the State Capitol for a candlelight vigil meant as a call for change in Whiteclay.
UNL MASA rally
GWYNETH ROBERTS, Journal Star
University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Ricardo Rodriguez holds a poster at a Nov. 18 rally organized by the Mexican-American Student Association outside the Nebraska Union.
We Stand United
CALLA KESSLER, Journal Star
From left, Sherri Robinson, Jessica Nickum and Kelly Seacrest hold signs condemning President Trump's plan to build a wall during the We Stand United event Nov. 12 at the Capitol in Lincoln.
Slutwalk
CALLA KESSLER, Journal Star
Women of all ages participated in the Slutwalk on Oct. 8, 2016, at the Capitol in Lincoln.Â
Black Lives Matter March
AMBER BAESLER/Lincoln Journal Star
Shaundra Freeman holds up her sign during the Black Lives Matter march on July 14 in front of the state Capitol.
More than a hundred people, including Tram Kieu (center), gather at Tower Square in downtown Lincoln for a candlelight vigil remembering the victims of a March shooting in Atlanta.
More than a hundred people, including Xia Hong, gather Thursday at Tower Square in downtown Lincoln for a candlelight vigil hosted by the Asian Community and Cultural Center remembering the victims of a recent shooting in Atlanta.
Rosemary Ohles (in white) and others gather March 25 for a candlelight vigil hosted by the Asian Community and Cultural Center remembering the victims of a recent shooting in Atlanta. The vice president of the Asian Center's board of directors came up with an annual "giving society" to support its work.
Phi Diep holds his daughter, Sophie Diep, 5, during a candlelight vigil hosted by the Asian Community and Cultural Center on Thursday remembering the victims of a recent shooting in Atlanta.