Wednesday, August 11, 2004

More on hate
I thought I'd post this in response to several of the comments from J & D below... I was doing a little research yesterday for "hate crimes in San Francisco" after reading about the anti-semetic attacks on David Heller yesterday. And I pulled up a set of articles about an assault that happened just over a year ago, on 19th and Taraval -- some blocks from where I live in the Sunset. It's a site that I pass en route to the 280 every week.

The pack of drunken white teenagers had surrounded the smallest one.

Stunned by a sucker punch, Jeff Woo fell to the ground at the corner of 19th Avenue and Taraval Street in San Francisco's Sunset District. Then some of them kicked him as he tried to protect his head with his hands, while others pummeled Woo's four friends.

Gook. Chink. Chinaman.

The kicking and racial slurs went on for minutes before Woo's friends dragged him across the street. Some of the attackers followed the Asian American teenagers and allegedly assaulted them again before police arrived. The teens' physical injuries included a swollen jaw, welts, bruises, facial bleeding and migraine headaches for days.

The trial for the assault ended just this past July with a conviction against a 17-year old white teenager at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory High School. There's more in the articles above, including details on how the assailants initially provoked the victims, and how the defense argued that the plaintiff "was close friends with an Asian American neighbor," and therefore proof that there was no racist hate involved.

These were San Francisco kids -- kids going to school just down the street ... Yes, certain attitudes have changed over the years, and we hope and pray that with each generation, tolerance and acceptance, knowledge and wisdom spreads a little more until incidents like these become completely extant. But ... immigrants are still targets. The US has gradually tightened and restricted its immigration policy -- even before 9/11. Yes, the US does pride itself for its tolerance. We have come a long way. But unfortunately there's also a long way to go.

posted by claudine |Added at 1:22 PM| | hate crimes