CALGARY -- Members of Calgary’s Asian community joined together to fight anti-Asian hate in the U.S. and Canada.
This, following a string of mass shootings in Atlanta, Ga. nearly two weeks ago at three separate massage and spa parlours that killed eight people.
The deaths included six Asian women.
“A lot of people are just silent and not aware of how serious the problem is,” said Jun Lin, a Calgarian at the rally. “And most concerning, there is a trend.”
Police in Atlanta say the suspect told authorities he had a ‘sexual addiction’ and the shootings were a form of vengeance.
Officers did say they had not ruled out racial motivation behind the shootings, but say the man accused denied those allegations.
Protests and rallies have been held in both countries in support of asian communities.
Rallies also took place in Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, Toronto and the Okanagan.
Organizers say much of the animosity towards Asian-Canadians has to do with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve seen incidences of that all throughout Calgary, albeit not as severe as Montreal and other places, but again, one incident is too many,” said Terry Wong with the Calgary Chinese business community.
A report by the Chinese-Canadian National Council in Toronto shows that between the start of the pandemic and the end of February 2021, there were 1,150 incidents of anti-Asian racism in Canada. That’s more per capita than the U.S.
People at the rally appeared to be staying physically distant from each other.
