Online harassment during an Asian American-led webinar

Attended a webinar organized by the Coalition of Asian-American Leaders called Countering Xenophobia and Anti-Asian Discrimination During COVID-19. A group of Zoombombers began unmuting themselves. One said "shut the f***up" while a person was presenting. When all the mics were muted, they began writing hate speech in the chat including: ‘stfu ching chong F*** JEWISH PEOPLE F*** SPICS DISGUSTING WET BACKS … CHING CHONG EAT BATS **** F*** U ASIAN”

Spat at while on a walk

I was walking down the street in Manhattan with my partner and a woman wearing a mask turns to us, pulls down her mask, and says with disgust “the virus came from China.” We were in shock, and that’s when she spat in our direction. She kept walking and when I realized what happened, I called her a racist and I couldn't hear what she said but she said something back and kept walking, and that was the end of the interaction.

"Your people disgust me"

I was walking back from getting groceries when I saw an older gentleman approaching so I started walking closer along a building wall to practice social distancing. I became a bit more on guard as I noticed he kept staring at me and wasn't moving farther away. As he approached me, he snarled "your people disgust me" and spat on the ground at me.

While playing basketball

My cousin, Chinese, 40’s, had racial slurs yelled at him by a white, homeless person while shooting hoops by himself in NYC, Chinatown. Suspect it was also COVID-19 motivated.

An unsettling encounter

Was on an afternoon neighborhood walk with my toddler son near our home. We needed some sunshine as we're self quarantining in a small apartment.

For context, we are a multiracial family -- our adopted son being Japanese American, his dad (me) being a white guy, and my wife/his mom being Filipina American.

A white, middle aged man in a gray/silver Prius slows to a halt near us, lowers his passenger side window, and tries to get my attention. Thinking he needed help, I approached with my son in my arms while keeping a safe social distance. The guy says to me, "Tell your kid when he grows up that China did all this."

In my confusion, it took a moment for the words and their intent to fully register. By that time he had pulled away. He was a complete stranger to us and yet decided a 2-year-old and his dad out for an innocent walk were fair game for aggressive hate mongering. I was pretty shaken up and the little consolation I had is that my son couldn't understand the words or the hateful intent. But my family, loved ones, and friends feel more unsettled with each passing day of this.

Screamed at on street

Me, my sister, and my mother were crossing the street with a stop sign. Nobody else was around us when a truck approached the stop sign. As were were crossing the street, I heard a man’s voice yell, “Walk faster! This is AMERICA!” I looked inside the truck and saw three white men (probably in their early 30s and late 20s). I immediately retaliated and responded with, “f*** you!”

Bullied at school

My ten year old son is Chinese. Before his school closed kids were picking on him, telling him he had the coronavirus.

Not seen as American

I decided to go grocery shopping early in the morning on a rainy Monday, hoping to avoid a crowd. I did my shopping faster than usual, in an unusually empty store. Still, I wanted to be in and out to minimize my exposure to anyone. As I was finishing up in self check out, a young staff member was watching me check out. He turned to his co worker and said “I’m going to throw all my shit from China in the garbage. F*** China.” He then looked right at me at said “F****Chinks”.

I could have punched him in the face. I could have confronted him. I could have called a manager. But I just wanted to get out of the store. Getting him fired wouldn’t change his attitude or hate. It would make it worse. This is a store in my neighborhood that I go to all the time. I fear for my kids who I often take shopping with me all the time. This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced racial epithets in my lifetime. But it’s been a while. People used to think these thoughts but realize saying them out loud wasn’t socially acceptable. Now, people feel they can say what they’re thinking, out loud. I’m 100% Japanese, but was born, raised, and educated in New York. I‘m American. But all that guy sees is a “f**** Chink.”

Standing in line at grocery store

Was standing in line to get into market when white woman passing by shouted a profanity at me and then lowered her mask and coughed purposely in my direction.

"You got corona!"

My husband, daughter and I went to a local park to practice hitting tennis balls when there were three teenage boys on bikes and scooter hanging around the wall we wanted to use. When they saw us, one of them began to yell, "You got Corona? You got Corona?" It didn't dawn on my family immediately that they were yelling at us because we were talking. Soon, they started yelling, "You got Corona! You mother *****! You got Corona! F** you! F** you!" Then they sped by us on their bikes and scooter. Another Asian family entered the park at that time and had the same thing happen to them.

"Signed for by C.COVID"

A FedEx driver put in "Signed for by C.COVID" after handing the package to my mother, who is Chinese American. The package was addressed to my sister, whose first initial is C.

I don't understand how they think it's okay to refer to customers as the coronavirus.

Not funny

Union Jack liquor store, located in Louisville, CO had on their marquee “Thanks China”, and advertised a beer special for $14.88 (White supremacist number). When called out by the community, there were multiple stories given by the owner. As quoted in the local paper, he expressed that he has a sister in law who is Chinese, and who thought it was funny. Likewise, he defended the use of 1488 by saying that he didn’t know that this was derogatory, and “still doesn’t know what it means”. The latter assertion seems very unlikely.

Verbal incident at the grocery store

I left a grocery store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and a man passing me on the sidewalk jeered: "Chinese people fuck up everything."

I am a 5th generation Asian American and wore my protective face mask for the first time that day.

Cambodian American Man Called a ‘Ch*nk’ After Man Cuts in Front of Him at 7-Eleven

This story was covered by NextShark.

A member of the Board of Directors at Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL), who wants to be identified only as Billy, was walking his bike into a 7-Eleven at 14th Street and O Street near Thomas Circle and Logan Circle at 11:45 a.m. EST on Wednesday when a man walked past him to cut in line.

“He tries to cut in front of me and I told him I was in line. That’s when he got upset and proceeded to unapologetically and shamelessly call me a ch*nk multiple times,” the 30-year-old Cambodian American told NextShark in an email. “I tried to immediately get people’s attention so others were aware of what was happening. There were 1 or 2 other bystanders standing closeby, besides the cashier.”

"I am now scared of going anywhere."

I am sharing my story hoping you could help Asians to stay alert. I never imagined it actually happens to me. I was wrong. I was about to go outside of the building where I reside [and] there were three men passing by. One of the men … yelled “Corona” at me. They walked on. Then after two seconds, the same man came back and yelled louder at me again, “Coronavirus! Coronavirus everywhere!”

I was so frightened that I felt frozen, I could not even think of running back inside the gate, just stood there…

It happened right in front of my condominium building in a quiet residential area. I am now scared of going anywhere.