A year ago, Lunar New Year celebrations unfolded as COVID-19 began spreading globally, ushering in a new wave of anti-Asian bias stoked by then-President Trump and the xenophobic rhetoric he used in labeling the disease the âChina virus.â
Now, as festivities this weekend mark another Lunar New Year, coronavirus vaccines offer relief from the virus but not from the racism directed at people of Asian descent, who have seen the bias turn to violence, notably against the elderly. The cases include the murder in San Francisco of Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old Thai man; a subway attack in New York City during which a 61-year-old Flipino man was slashed across the face with a knife; and several assaults targeting older Asian Americans in the Chinatown section of Oakland, Calif.
Lexington resident named to Massachusetts Asian American Commission
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Megha Prasad, of Lexington, was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Asian American Commission.
State officials also announced the appointment of Cinda Danh, of Lynn, and Ekta Saksena, of Acton, to the commission. They will serve a three-year term as commissioner of the public body, which is dedicated to advocacy on behalf of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout Massachusetts.
The new commissioners were sworn in virtually on Jan. 21 by State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, along with Mary K. Y. Lee, who was reappointed by Gov. Charlie Baker for a second term.