After a wave of anti-Asian violence from the COVID-19 era, and during this current period of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids on American neighborhoods, many AAPI still fear the simple task of leaving their homes.<\/p>\n
Almost half of AAPI adults say they experienced a hate act in 2025 \u2014 a figure that compares closely to 49% in 2023 and 53% in 2024, according to the nonprofit\u00a0Stop AAPI Hate<\/a>.<\/p>\n Attendees at the conference joined interactive workshops on dealing with different views, making cross-cultural connections, and spreading social justice through sharing lived experiences. Panels addressed the role of media and art in communicating positive messages as they inform the public.<\/p>\n In Sacramento, the fear is immediate. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, who represents District 8 in South Sacramento and is currently a candidate for the US House of Representatives in California\u2019s 7th Congressional District, put it plainly.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite the tireless efforts of community-based organizations including those that attended the CA vs. Hate conference, Hmong and Southeast Asian and immigrant communities are living in fear because of ICE and this authoritarian administration,\u201d said Vang.<\/p>\n Vang referenced last January\u2019s illegal ICE detention of Saint Paul, Minnesota resident Chong Ly \u201cScott\u201d Thao, a U.S. citizen who was made to stand outside his home in freezing temperatures wearing only undershorts and a blanket.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we saw in Minnesota, in which ICE racially profiled members of our community \u2014 we need to stay vigilant and united against hate,\u201d she said. \u201cThe way forward requires us to be unafraid in naming that we need to dismantle and abolish this racist rogue agency. It also demands that we find commonalities and our shared humanity to fight hate and racist institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Attendees at the conference joined interactive workshops on dealing with differing social views, making cross-cultural connections and spreading social justice through sharing lived experiences. Panels addressed the role of media and art in communicating positive messages to inform the public about why hate is not the answer to social differences.<\/p>\n Former Assemblymember Phil Ting was one of the first panelists. As chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, he helped create the CA vs. Hate and Stop the Hate CA programs.<\/p>\n Ting said that in recent years there has been a \u201cconcerted effort to roll back rights we have taken for granted\u201d since the 1960s. His solution was to get more political.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been doing hasn\u2019t been working, let\u2019s just be frank,\u201d said Ting. He encouraged nonprofit organization members in the audience to lobby Sacramento legislators more frequently, invite them to events and learn to communicate more effectively.<\/p>\n \u201cMake sure you\u2019re going to their events too, engaging them and sharing your point of view,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Two short films screened at the conference \u2014 one about the elderly and one about children \u2014 focused on viewing hate and discrimination from someone else\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n Asian Health Services presented Kevin Wong\u2019s documentary \u201cLove Has Two Meanings,\u201d which follows 12 Chinese American elders from East Oakland\u2019s Chinatown who fear their own neighborhoods due to a wave of post-pandemic robberies.<\/p>\n Watch: Love Has Two Meanings<\/a><\/p>\n After learning basic self-defense strategies, the elders are taken on a field trip to learn about other ethnic neighborhoods, including West Oakland, San Francisco and finally San Quentin State Prison \u2014 where they learn about how Asian youth, like others, become caught up in the criminal justice system in a sometimes lifelong pattern of recidivism.<\/p>\n San Quentin inmates on the Asian Prisoner Support Committee introduce the elders to the in-prison ROOTS (Restoring Our Original True Selves) program run by the\u00a0Asian Prisoner Support Committee<\/a>, which has helped over 250 young offenders rehabilitate themselves through ethnic studies curricula and reentry planning.<\/p>\n The Chinese elders wrote personal letters to the inmates they met, thanking them and encouraging them to keep moving forward. After the trip, most of the elders said they felt less fearful about the future.<\/p>\n In the second film, Daren Dien\u2019s \u201cBirth of a Mind,\u201d three children play online games together without caring that one is white, one is African American, and one is Filipino \u2014 until their parents separately admonish each child to prioritize their own race first.<\/p>\n Watch: Birth of a Mind (Director\u2019s Cut)<\/a><\/p>\n The film shows viewers how this parental misguidance feels from a child\u2019s perspective. Dien, whose film was produced by\u00a0LA vs Hate<\/a>, told the conference the dialogue came from angry posts he found on social networks and things he had overheard firsthand.<\/p>\n Tony Douangviseth, executive director of Youth Together \u2014 a multiracial organization in Oakland that supports youth and families in creating transformative schools and communities \u2014 also spoke at the conference.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been in a community and you\u2019ve been impacted, it creates harm, and that harm stays for a long time,\u201d said Douangviseth. \u201cIt\u2019s not only important to develop youth leaders, it\u2019s important to inspire, to model what we have as adults.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/18-5-2026-9-44-35-pm-8576692.jpg\"\/)
Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang who is currently running for Congress in California\u2019s 7th District. (Photo courtesy of Mai Vang)<\/p>\n