DALLAS — In front of the H Mart in Carrollton, a popular Korean American grocery store in the community north of Dallas, Officer Chang Chi approached shopper after shopper to speak to them briefly in Korean and hand each person a flyer from the pile in his hands.
“They will talk to me in uniform,” Chi joked, saying he was happy his chief let him wear it on his day off for this effort.
Indeed, this effort was an important and personal for the longtime Lewisville police officer. The flyers advertised an upcoming meet-up at the local Korean American church, Semihan Church in Carrollton, where Officer Chi hoped to unite two of the main communities at the center of his world, the Asian American community and the law enforcement community.
Officer Chi translates for the crowd at the Stop Asian Hate event. (Spectrum News 1/Brian Scott)
Officer Chi said it was time for the two sides to come together and form a better understanding, especially in the face of the major issue that both of those communities are dealing with across the country: the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
Since the start of the pandemic, the FBI reports that hate crimes against people of Asian descent have increased about 70%. The spike coincides with the community being targeted during the pandemic with hateful rhetoric and scapegoating.
Now, a new poll from NPR and their partners found that despite much of the attention on those issues quieting, about a quarter of Asian American respondents continued to feel threatened and in danger given the current state of affairs in the county.
“Those attacks have not happened around my city, but after watching it over and over again it affects me,” said Officer Chi.
Officer Chi said speaking to others in that community locally, many do feel safe with the state of things in these DFW suburbs, but he said others worry about the anger out there being directed their way.
Chi said he especially worries about older generations of Asian Americans who may not be as accustomed to American life or the system of getting help from law enforcement if something does go bad.
“It’s scary,” he said. “I know how to protect myself but my mother who speaks very little English doesn’t understand the system.”
So, Officer Chi spoke with leaders at his department and others about doing something to better connect with the local Asian American community. He said leaders at Semihan were quick to jump on board, and together they started the Stop Asian Hate initiative.
On Saturday, they held their first event with several dozen community members attending to speak with police chiefs from Lewisville and Carrollton. The police leaders, with Chi translating into Korean, spoke about crime stats facing the local Asian community and how members can connect with police. They also listened to their concerns about the current situation.
Chiefs from Lewisville and Carrollton sit among the Asian American community in North Texas. (Spectrum News 1/Brian Scott)
Officer Chi said it was also important to show the community that there are Asian American officers like himself on the police forces in the community, representing their growing population in North Texas.
Officer Chi said he wants to be a small piece to this puzzle, as they take on an issue much bigger than one person alone, but he said he’s already heard interest from other communities who want to join the cause as well as the discussion.
Above all, he said that’s their main goal, to keep the discussion going and make sure that this spike in hate against Asian Americans doesn’t get ignored.
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October 22, 2021 at 12:35AM
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