Anti-hate rally held in Chinatown in US Oakland

SAN FRANCISCO - Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and other organizations jointly organized a rally on Saturday in Chinatown in Oakland, the U.S. state of California, against racial discrimination and hate crimes.

Hundreds of people from all walks of life, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, attended the event.

Schaaf greeted the demonstrators in Chinese, saying that she was glad to see individuals and communities have stepped forward to wrap arms around Chinatown to support those who had been subjected to hate and discrimination.

"This is our moment to say no longer," Schaaf said.

According to Rob Bonta, the California attorney general's office and the California Department Of Justice were taking action against hate crimes. "We fight side by side. That does not just be an issue for the API community, because so many communities have faced and suffered the sting of hate in California and throughout this nation's history," he noted.

"Too many times in too many places, people have been hurt and targeted and attacked because of who they are, where they're from, or who they love. And we know that is wrong," Bonta added.

Daniel Wu, an actor growing up in Oakland, participated in the rally and delivered a speech.

"We are clearly seeing a result of the hatred that was spread over the last eight years has disseminated down to the street level and we're seeing it now. And so we need to fight against that," Wu said.

He argued that the solutions would not be short-term. "This is a great moment, but we need to keep pushing and get that door open and keep pushing through against hate against racism and unite together."

During a press conference for the Asian community and media on Thursday in the city, Craig Fair, the FBI Special Agent in Charge of San Francisco field office, said that over the past year, the FBI had seen an increase in the number of reported hate incidents and hate crimes across the United States in California, and in the San Francisco bay area, particularly in Oakland.