CLEVELAND-- More than 400 people of many racial and ethnic backgrounds came together Sunday afternoon in support of the Asian and Asian-American community during a “Stop Asian Hate” rally in downtown Cleveland. The rally, held in Asiatown, was in response to a rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and hate crimes against the Asian-American community recently, and to the Atlanta Asian spa shootings that left eight people dead.
The rally began with a moment of silence for those slain in Atlanta, followed by local community leaders speaking to the crowd. Many of the speakers emphasized a need for change at the governmental level to help minority groups in this country be treated equally. Asiatown community organizer Xinyuan Cui delivered her speech in both English and Mandarin for the crowd.
The group then marched through several streets in Asiatown, with police escort, led by chants from the crowd to stop hate against minority groups.