Hundreds in six U.S. cities, including SF, rally for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted and killed since the start of the pandemic.
SAN FRANCISCO — On their final night together, father and daughter watched the news and traded goodnight kisses on the cheek. The next morning, Vicha Ratanapakdee was assaulted while on a walk in San Francisco and died, becoming yet another Asian victim of violence in America. On Sunday, Monthanus Ratanapakdee will commemorate the one-year anniversary of her father’s death with a rally in the San Francisco neighborhood where the 84-year-old was killed. She will be joined by hundreds of people in five other U.S. cities, all of them seeking justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted, and even killed in alarming numbers since the start of the pandemic. Ratanapakdee, who was raised in Thailand, feels compelled to speak out so people don’t forget the gentle, bespectacled man who doted on his young grandsons and encouraged her to pursue her education in America.”I don’t want my father’s death to be in vain. I want Asian American people to use my father’s story to… raise your voice.” said Ratanapakdee,49, a food safety inspector with the San Francisco Unified School District. Asians in America have long been subject to prejudice and discrimination, but the attacks escalated sharply after the coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. More than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition from March 2020 through September 2021. The incidents involved shunning, racist taunting and physical assaults. In San Francisco and elsewhere, news reports showed video and photos of older Asian people robbed and knocked down, bruised and stabbed on public streets.
