Asian Community Stands By Asian American Activist Couple Days After Racist Attack
Family members, friends, and sympathizers rallied behind an Asian-American couple victimized by a racist attack after a man, now notoriously known as “Lawn Sign Larry,” harassed them on their own yard.
Members of the Southeast Asian Coalition gathered tonight in front of the house where Cat and Tin (foreground) live and were recently confronted by a man yelling racist remarks in response to their yard signs. Video here: https://t.co/UayM9JG7Wo pic.twitter.com/kXKSjTVZgL
— Ryan Pitkin (@pitkin_ryan) July 18, 2018
Members of the Southeast Asian Coalition gathered in front of Tin Nguyen and Cat Bao Le’s house on July 17 in North Carolina days after they encountered an aggressive man yelling racial slurs at them, according to Charlotte CL.
The man stepped foot on the couple’s yard on July 15 and began yelling at the residents because they had signs that read “F*ck Donald Trump,” “Black Lives Matter,” and “Refugees Welcome Here” posted on their front lawn.
Hey North Carolina,
This man came onto the property of an Asian-American family, demanded that they remove their fuck Donald Trump sign, proceeded to call them the N-word, and then said his people built this country. Retweet this video and shame the shit out of him. pic.twitter.com/oxVuDdDW1n
— ✊🏿Black Aziz aNANsi✊🏿 (@Freeyourmindkid) July 15, 2018
The man, reportedly identified as Cullen Heald from Charlotte, North Carolina, demanded the removal of the signs and called the couple the N-word.
The white supremacist banging on my door and calling me the N-word is CULLEN HEALD. Twitter – please find more information about this racist—especially where he works. pic.twitter.com/sdbc8xIhuY
— Tin Nguyen (@nctintin) July 16, 2018
Both sides exchanged heated words before the racist man drove off.
Part 2 of the video pic.twitter.com/xlFB4LD1C7
— ✊🏿Black Aziz aNANsi✊🏿 (@Freeyourmindkid) July 15, 2018
Le, the executive director at Southeast Asian Coalition, expressed her views at a press conference on Tuesday in front of her home. She said that the man’s actions are part of an even bigger pattern of harassment directed towards minorities and immigrants during President Donald Trump’s term.
— Charlotte Uprising (@cltuprising) July 17, 2018
“The Trump administration has allowed white supremacists to feel emboldened and to escalate attacks against our communities,” she said. “And when I say our community, I mean a lot of the communities that are facing these attacks under this administration and continue to fear for their lives.”
Meanwhile, Nguyen, a lawyer, admitted that he did not call the police as he did not trust them to take action against the man.
“We know what happens to people like him,” Nguyen said. “In the past few months, just turn on your TV, turn on your Facebook, you will see some white person wanting to police somebody just for breathing … and so we know that that’s our justice. This video went viral within hours, it got picked up by all the different news networks, so that’s the kind of transformative justice that we believe in.”
— Charlotte Uprising (@cltuprising) July 17, 2018
This was not the first time Nguyen and Le have encountered such harassment over the signs, but they continue to leave them on their lawn as it does not violate any city ordinance.
“We have these signs here because we know that the president deserves this sign, he deserves this big middle finger,” Nguyen, a pro-immigrant activist whose mother grew up in a refugee camp in Malaysia, said.
“The signs that we have here is the vision of the community that we believe in. We believe that refugees are welcome here. We elevate black lives and queer and trans black lives. We believe in all the immigrants that are in this community, and we do not stand with Trump one bit,” added Nguyen, who is also an active member of the group Charlotte Uprising.
Featured Image via Twitter / Charlotte Uprising
The post Asian Community Stands By Asian American Activist Couple Days After Racist Attack appeared first on NextShark.
Contributer : NextShark
No comments:
Post a Comment