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Don’t be divided by Asian-hate media hype
The media is blowing up the “stop Asian American hate” issue, saying anti-Asian hate crime rates are “soaring.”
But check out this data from “Fact Sheet: Anti-Asian Prejudice — March 2020” by the Center for Study of Hate and Extremism. It shows an increase of nearly 150% in the 16 largest cities in the U.S.
Well, that sounds like a lot. However, the numbers show this “soaring” increase consists of 49 crimes in 2019 increasing to 122 in 2020. In a city as big as New York, the numbers were three crimes in 2019 and 28 crimes in 2020.
So why all the media hype about soaring hate of Asians? The media want to divide us by race and identity groups and pit us against each other. Don’t buy into that game.
Cathy Fukunaga
Kailua
Injustice won’t make our society stronger
James Kataoka provided a bizarre response regarding history’s use of racial discrimination and violence as a barometer toward future success (“Racial discrimination part of human existence,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 29).
He seems to believe that these hardships make us stronger as a society. I’m not sure everyone would agree. Are those whose lives were lost and family members affected by this sudden loss better? We are better off not because of injustice. When we come together as members of a community and learn to overcome these injustices, then we are truly better.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
Ryan Tin Loy
Nuuanu
No law could prevent Pearl Harbor shooting
The gun-control groups have no shame. They have enlisted the family of one of the Pearl Harbor shooting victims.
They are working with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
A U.S. Navy submarine sailor, Gabriel Romero, opened fire while on duty at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. He was “on-duty” security, in uniform, and used a government-issued firearm to commit this attack.
No civilian laws would apply in this incident.
No laws could be passed that would have averted or prevented this action. But that won’t stop the “Brady bunch” from trying to disarm the rest of the nation.
“Any excuse will serve a tyrant.”
James Pritchett
Pahoa, Hawaii island
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