People gathered at Mitchell Park in San Luis Obispo on Thursday afternoon to rally against recent violent attacks against Asian Americans across the country.
Local organizers of the Stop AAPI Hate rally brought in speakers and planned to march through the downtown streets.
They hope to bring awareness to the increase of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans across the U.S., as well as bring attention to the AAPI community on the Central Coast.
Organizers say they are planning for a peaceful event and have medics, peacekeepers, and legal observers on hand. Some people in attendance brought their families along, and everyone is being asked to wear masks.
Our team spoke with some of the young families in attendance, to ask how they address racism at home.
Daniel, a young boy in who went to the rally with his parents, talked about it in front us.
His dad said, "So lately on the news there’s been some racism against Asians right?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe people aren’t nice to other people just because of the color of their skin…that might be called racism.”
Daniel replied, “So we’re out here today to try and prevent racism from happening and that’s what we’ll continue to try and do.”
And Savannah, a mom who brought her son Ezekiel to the rally, discussed how important it was to talk about racism because some members of her family are treated differently because of the difference in their skin tone.
“It’s still important to have the conversation about racism because he and I do not experience it the same way that he does when he is with his dad. They get funny looks.”
Another family told us they make an effort to talk about racism whenever a media - like a book or a movie - has majority Caucasian characters. The mom said she makes an effort to purchase media that portrays diverse characters and experiences.
