Eyewitness perspective

I love the Op-Ed section of the paper. I believe we all need to write at least one letter on something we’re passionate about in our lifetime. In saying that, I applaud this reader

Wing Luke attack: Eyewitness perspective

Re: “Man charged with hate crime after vandalism at Wing Luke Museum” [Sept. 18, Local News]:

I recently visited the Wing Luke Museum with 30 members of Tsuru for Solidarity — a Japanese-American grassroots project fighting racial and state violence. We were there to view “Resisters,” an exhibit telling the stories of Japanese Americans who resisted their unjust incarceration during WWII and connecting their resistance to present-day struggles for justice. Instead, we survived a racist attack by a white man wielding a sledgehammer.

I’m no stranger to anti-Asian attacks. I and 7,390 members of the Seattle Nikkei community were forcibly removed to the site of the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. Eighty-two years later, it destroys me to see this racist violence persist.

Don’t let the Seattle Police Department — with its racist history and the same department that worked with the FBI to arrest my father on my fourth birthday in 1941 — make itself the hero of this story. Despite many calls, it wasn’t the police who disarmed and de-escalated the situation, provided care and support, and cleaned up the shards of broken glass. We took care of each other, just as have generations of local Asian Americans. We must center the voices of the Chinatown International District and the Asian American community at large.

Nikki Nojima Louis, Albuquerque

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3 Responses to Eyewitness perspective

  1. adguru101's avatar adguru101 says:

    At a time when we are seeing surges in bigotry on all fronts, it is so important to stand up, fight back, and call this out whenever and wherever it happens.

    Liked by 1 person

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