When things hit close to home — and the cumulative impact on the AAPI community

No words.

That’s how I felt following the recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.

And yet here I am trying to find the words -- to try to make sense out of senselessness, and to find something that inspires hope and change.

We now know all 11 victims in Monterey Park were of Asian descent, and 5 of the 7 victims in Half Moon Bay were Chinese farmworkers.

From Southern to Northern California, many of us in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community find ourselves again reeling from senseless acts of violence.

What happened in Monterey Park particularly hits close to home for me because I lived there -- from walking to my middle school as a pre-teen to commuting from there to the University of Southern California as a young adult.

It’s where my immigrant parents decided to settle for many years and to give me and my three siblings the opportunity to grow up in a diverse, vibrant community that was in the U.S., but that still had some of the familiar comforts of their first home, Taiwan.

Monterey Park is roughly 66 percent Asian. It’s home to many immigrants from Asia -- a safe haven for so many who left their homes in Asia to start new lives because of its strong Asian identity.

At just about every corner in Monterey Park, you’ll find Chinese language signage — and under those signs, countless Asian eateries, Chinese herbal medicine shops, Asian grocery stores, and little children with shiny black hair hand-in-hand with their gray-haired grandmas and grandpas. The Star Dance Studio, the site of the first shooting, was where my mother and other family members used to take dance lessons – a community within a community.

So, to see the scenes from Monterey Park on TV — and from that dance studio-turned crime scene – was surreal. This wasn’t a mass shooting in Anytown, USA — it was a horrific incident in my hometown.

Emotions were already raw for many in the AAPI community because of the alarming rise in anti-Asian violence during the pandemic. These recent events are causing many to relive the painful memories of all the violent attacks on Asian Americans over the last few years.

When victims of assault are from underrepresented communities, we often hear this question: Was it a hate crime? In the case of the most recent shootings, it’s as though the race of the two Asian suspects somehow diminishes the fear of violence the AAPI community is experiencing. It doesn't.

Regardless of the motive, the AAPI community is again deeply shaken. And that this mass shooting unfolded in Monterey Park, considered the “first suburban Chinatown,” has compounded a community’s feelings of fear and lack of safety.

The toll is real. Some highlights from a new survey of Asian and Asian American participants from nonprofit think tank Coqual:

• 63 percent of those responding say the ongoing violence has negatively impacted their mental health.
• 45 percent say their physical health has been impacted.
• Almost half of respondents said it’s very or extremely important to them that their organizations address violence against the AAPI community.
• Only about a quarter feel their company is very vocal about the subject.

These findings point to a huge opportunity for corporate America – to acknowledge the uncertainty and fear AAPI employees may be experiencing, to help them cope after community violence, and to ensure those who need support know what company resources are available to them.

I’m thankful to be at a company that has denounced violence directed the AAPI community and that is taking action. As one example, this spring, Wells Fargo is partnering with Right to Be, AAJC – Asian Americans Advancing Justice and NBC News / MSNBC anchor Richard Lui to host special sessions related to bystander intervention with information on how to respond to and intervene in harassment. We’re doing this because we see a need, and we hope to meet that need by supporting strong partners who have expertise on this front.

In light of the recent shootings, bystander intervention has taken on renewed relevance and urgency. Authorities say 26-year-old Brandon Tsay who worked at his family-owned Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio – what appears to be the intended second target of the Monterey Park shooter — saved countless lives by stopping the gunman. Many point to his heroic actions as exemplifying what it means to be part of a community and not just a resident of one.

In AAPI communities across the country, people are digging deep these days to be resilient in the face of tragedy.

Asian Americans take great pride in being self-sufficient and standing up on their own. That doesn’t mean they’re not hurting – and it doesn’t mean they don’t want to be seen and heard.

Whether we’re community members, working professionals, or corporations, we can ensure they are not invisible. And we can stand with them.