Amid a Weekend of Demonstrations, Asian Americans Will Have Their First National Rally
Groups representing Asian American and Pacific Islanders have organized the Unity March to fight back against a growing number of hate crimes.
People gather for a rally protesting violence against Asian-Americans at Sara D. Roosevelt Park on February 14, 2022, in the Chinatown neighborhood in New York City.
Photographer: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
With Pride Month coming to a close and the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there will be celebrations and demonstrations aplenty across the US this weekend. In Washington, D.C., Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) will hold their first national Unity March, an anti-racism rally that may draw as many as 15,000 people.
Ten advocacy groups started planning the event last year after a gunman killed six Asian women working in spas near Atlanta in March 2021. The march comes amid a surge in violence and harassment of Asians in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic, which originated in China. Anti-Asian hate crimes in the US increased 339% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. The Covid-fueled racism has been a wake-up call for many AAPIs to demand equity, as well as solutions to stop anti-Asian hate and injustice.