-Pradeep Pariyar Thapa Exclusive: Jersey City, NJ – #StopAsianHateJC Committee has organized a rally on Saturday calling for justice, unity, love and reconciliation in a nation fractured by divisive rhetoric and bigotry against Asian American community. Leaders from different Asian American organizations, legal sectors and elected officials voiced in unison for ending violence and discriminatory systemic practices against Asian American that have existed for centuries to date.
The #StopAsianHateJC committee, which is the organizing force behind the rally, is a grassroots coalition comprised of immigrant rights and community activists, organizers, business leaders, civic leaders, and concerned individuals.
Asian American comprise 25.1% of Jersey City’s population, according to the 2019 American Community Survey. There are 18.9 million Asian American in the United States according to the U.S. 2019 Census Bureau population estimate which account for 5.7 percent of the nation's population. In 2019, the following states had the largest Asian American populations: California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington, Florida, Virginia, Hawaii, Massachusetts.
According to California State University report hate crimes against Asian people rose by nearly 150 percent whereas there were 3,795 incidents received by the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center from March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021.
At the rally, among the bevy of speakers were New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Jersey City Council President Joyce Watterman, Hoboken City Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, Jersey City Immigrant Affairs Commission Chair Hamel Vyas, ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Migrante-NJ, NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice. Jersey City Councilman At-Large Rolando Lavarro who is part of the #StopAsianHateJC committee moderated the event.
The #StopAsianHateJC committee also delivered a set of asks to address the rise of anti-Asian violence. Various community-based organizations have been invited to share relevant resources to the community.