‘No place for hate’: Elk Grove leaders condemn violence against Asian Americans
Elk Grove leaders on Wednesday emphatically condemned hate against the Asian American Pacific Islander community and promised new plans to help bolster the community’s safety in the wake of racist rhetoric and violent attacks against Asian Americans in California and across the country.
A resolution that condemns and aims to combats hate violence targeting the AAPI community, as well as support state legislation, sits on Elk Grove City Council members desks and is expected to be adopted in council chambers Wednesday night.
“Violence against any one of us is a threat to all of us,” said Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen at a news conference outside Elk Grove City Hall. She introduced a “buddy” program partnering Elk Grove police with local nonprofits that serve the AAPI community and a tip line to report attacks and harassment. The tip line’s number is 916-691-5246.
“To the AAPI community: We stand with you. There’s no place for hate in this community,” Elk Grove Police Chief Tim Albright said.
Elk Grove is one of the most diverse cities in a diverse Sacramento region. Nearly a third of the city’s residents — 30% — identify as Asian-American and Pacific Islander. Hispanic and Black residents comprise another 30%, Elk Grove officials said. The City Council reflects the community: Singh-Allen is the first directly elected Sikh woman elected mayor in the nation; the city’s vice mayor, Stephanie Nguyen, and Councilman Darren Suen, are of Asian descent.
Five years ago, the City Council proclaimed Elk Grove a “No Place for Hate” city, promoting the message through social media and events including the city’s yearly Multicultural Festival.
But residents have been shaken by hateful rhetoric and violent attacks against Asian-Americans that increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and now punctuated by the mass shootings last week in Atlanta that killed 8 people, six of whom were Asian American women, and the brutal broad daylight attack of a 76-year-old woman of Asian descent in San Francisco.
“People are feeling uneasy. They’re seeing things on the news. They feel anxious,” Suen said. “But we can drown out that story by standing up for what’s right.”
The rising number of disturbing incidents has spurred new action and activism to combat it.
Assemblyman Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, joined leaders at the briefing and is carrying a bill that would classify hate crimes as violent crimes, ensuring longer prison terms for offenders. That bill was co-sponsored by Rob Bonta, the Bay Area assemblyman who was tapped as California’s new Attorney General on Wednesday.
Elk Grove has also endured violence driven by hate.
March marks 10 years since Sikh grandfathers Surinder Singh, 65, and Gurmej Singh Atwal, 78, were shot and killed about 4:30 p.m., March 4, 2011, on East Stockton Boulevard while on their afternoon walk.
The shooter was driving a gold or tan pickup truck and pulled alongside the men before opening fire from a semiautomatic handgun, said witnesses.
The case stunned Elk Grove, shattered its Sikh community and remains unsolved. A park named in Singh and Atwal’s honor — Elk Grove’s 100th — will be dedicated next month.
The still-unsolved killings were on Singh-Allen’s mind.
“I have seen the ugly face of hate. Passing resolutions are great, but we need action,” the mayor said from the podium, calling the killings “a turning point” in her decision to seek public office. Singh-Allen won a seat on the Elk Grove Unified School District board and served eight years as a board trustee before her election as mayor in November.
“Six women are shot and killed — it’s shocking. An elderly woman is beaten. It’s shocking. We can’t sit in silence,” Singh-Allen said. “Hate is a virus, but our common humanity always outshines the darkness.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 3:21 PM.
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