California widow receives 'disgusting' letter celebrating 'one less Asian' on the day she buried her husband
Among the ongoing spike in Anti-Asian crime and Asian hate that the US is fighting against with hashtags and social media awareness, comes the story of a "cruel" letter an Asian widow received, on the very day she buried her late husband.
Hailing from Seal Beach, California, Claudia Choi's mother was the target of a "disgusting" letter that was deliberately postmarked on the day of Choi's father's funeral and celebrates 'One less Asian' in the world. "Now that Byong is gone, it’s one less Asian we have to put up with in Leisure World," the letter reads. "You fricken Asians are taking over our American community!" The letter also adds: "Watch out! Pack your bags and go back to your country where you belong!"
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In an interview with KCBS, Choi called out the abhorrent nature of the mail. “To target a grieving widow, it’s disgusting. They postmarked it on the day of my father's funeral," she said. "How cruel could you be? Shame on them. Racism and hatred and cruelty need to be denounced at every turn. It's not just when somebody gets beaten up, although that's terrible or when women get murdered, that's awful but when your neighbor says something like they need to go home or makes an Asian joke, you need to speak up and say that is not okay because these little things that we allow to pass lead to bigger things."
Choi's mother had to experience this cruelty just days after Atlanta was left shocked and horrified by the Asian massage parlor spa shooting by Robert Aaron Long. The man went on a multiple-spa murdering spree and ensued gunfire at each business as those were alleged 'temptations he wanted to eliminate'. Long killed eight people, six out of whom were Asian women. The incident has sparked worldwide outrage against the fetishization of Asian women and the disposable way sex workers are treated.
the incident of this letter has also sparked a growing concern surrounding the safety of the Asian American Pacific Islander community, where hate has become common. Over 3,800 attacks against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) happened in 2020 alone, reports the watchdog group Stop AAPI Hate. Also, 360 attacks against AAPI people happened in Los Angeles itself in the last year, they reveal. With the letter specifying the name of Choi's father, this was a targeted crime, but it was someone within her parent's 55 person community. Choi has reported the letter to the police, who are investigating, and also to the FBI since it came through the mail.
There will be handwriting and fingerprinting analysis and DNA testing is done to try and identify the sender, police said. "Hate directed toward any member of our community is disgusting and will not be tolerated,” Seal Beach Police Chief Philip L. Gonshak said. “Across the country, we are seeing more and more violence committed against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We will not allow this to happen in Seal Beach. Our investigators are working hard to follow up on any and all leads we receive.”
Leisure World, where Choi's parents are from, also said in a statement "This malicious and egregious act of hate speech threatens our core values of racial equity and social justice… We condemn in the strongest possible terms such action and that all actions will be taken to locate and prosecute the individual.”