'We've been waiting for this moment:' Rally for Asian Americans in Fort Lee draws over 700

FORT LEE — A rally on Saturday that drew more than 700 people was part of "an awakening of activism" among Asian Americans, one of its organizers said, sparked by a recent mass shooting in Atlanta that came amid a rise in hate crimes over the past year.

People packed into a borough park as organizers and community leaders spoke out against hate crimes that have targeted Asian Americans and read aloud the names of the people who were recently shot and killed in Atlanta. It was one of several rallies across North Jersey, including recent events in Leonia, Teaneck and Tenafly; and among many that were scheduled to be held across the country over the weekend.

The rally organizers, who were mostly young people, said they believe the rallies were a first step for an Asian community that has not often engaged in this kind of demonstration.

"I never saw activists who look like me," said Gabriella Son, 20, a rally organizer. "We've been waiting for this moment. I don't think there's ever been a moment when Asian Americans had a movement."

Son said she was inspired by an Asian American literature course that she has been taking in college, and by reading about Asian culture in the U.S. Many people, she said, view Asian Americans, even those born in the U.S., as foreigners — and have blamed them for the COVID-19 virus because it is believed to have begun in China.

"I've never been to Asia," she said.

One of the signs held up at the rally said racism is a virus.

Son and others at the rally said the Georgia shootings highlighted concerns about the sexualization of Asian women — six of whom were among the eight people killed when a gunman targeted several spas in the Atlanta area. Several people said former President Donald Trump tapped into stereotypes when he referred to COVID-19 as "kung flu," among other things, even in the face of reports of Asian Americans being harassed.

More:Four Bergen towns decry anti-Asian violence while Biden denounces 'un-American' attacks

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who was among the speakers at the rally, said police counted at least 750 people at the borough's Hudson Lights park. He urged people to report hate crimes to borough police and shouted out his cellphone number so that such crimes could be reported directly to him.

Story continues below the gallery.

"You are police officers, our Planning Board, you are our council members," he said to Asian Americans in the crowd. "You are the fabric of our community."

He noted that Asian Americans make up a large part of the Fort Lee community — 42%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — and said he was pleased Saturday's event was attended by a diverse crowd, with many non-Asians in the audience.

Michael Totera, 22, of River Edge said he attended because he wanted to support his Asian friends. "I don't feel right sitting back and doing nothing," he said.

Organizers said they hope to make a permanent change when it comes to awareness of anti-Asian racism in America — in the same way that Black Lives Matter protests last summer sparked by the death of George Floyd changed the conversation about the way Black people are treated in America.

"We're trying to bring more awareness," said Sharon Kim, 15, a 10th-grade student at Fort Lee High School. "We need to learn more about Asian history. There haven't been a lot of marches for Asians."

There were protests decades ago, after a Chinese American man named Vincent Chin was killed in Detroit in 1982 by two men who thought he was of Japanese descent at a time when some people blamed Japanese car manufacturers for the decline of the American auto industry. The men initially got off with a fine, although one was found guilty in a federal civil rights trial. The conviction was later reversed.

This year, as hate crimes against Asian Americans have grown during the pandemic, an Anti-Defamation League survey found that 17% of Asian Americans said they had been harassed online, an increase of more than 50% from last year.

CHAO:A walk through Manhattan, the sting of racism and a fear I can't let go

Bergen County Executive James Tedesco, who spoke during Saturday's rally, reminded the crowd that a Chinese restaurant in Wyckoff had been vandalized last June when someone spray-painted "Covid-19" on the windows. He told the crowd that "our county's diversity is its greatest strength."

Son, a rally organizer, said people across the nation have "become more racially conscious" over the past year and that Asian Americans are feeling threatened as perhaps never before. She said her parents, who came from South Korea when they were school children, don't remember such a large number of assaults being reported.

"We can no longer be silent," Son said. "This is a direct attack on our people."