Rumbling engines trailed behind protestors as they marched through North 27th St, home to many local Asian businesses like Oriental Market and Perfect Diner.
Under the midday heat of April 10, more than 100 protesters gathered at the front steps of the Nebraska State Capitol with signs that read “Stop Asian Hate.”
Diane Choi, who was at the forefront of Lincoln’s first Stop Asian Hate peaceful protest, handwrote the cries of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community on a 26-foot long banner.
One sentence on the banner read, “NOT YOUR: model minority, pandemic causer, scapegoat, doll, punchline.”
Protestors cheered while holding up signs every time a vehicle honked in support as it passed by the Capitol.
Several protestors spoke about the importance of attending the protest.
Gracie Cruisinberry said she felt different from everyone else growing up. She was adopted into a White family, and people would sometimes stare at her and compare her appearance to her siblings. Right now, she is trying to reconnect with her Vietnamnese roots.
When the first COVID-19 wave hit in 2020, strangers verbally assaulted Cruisinberry, telling her to “Go back to China” when she isn’t even Chinese. Other times, strangers would claim she eats dogs and cats.
“It's hard for me to process why people are hating toward me,” Cruisinberry said.
Venus Delaney and Sami Brayton said the treatment of minorities in the U.S. needs to be changed.
As a Native American, Delaney knows what it’s like to be a silent minority. Delaney’s preferred pronouns, which are they/them, said they have felt ignored and pushed aside like they don’t matter as much as their White counterparts.
“I want it to be known that nobody is just sitting by, letting themselves be degraded and put down by other people like that. It’s not going to be tolerated anymore,” Delaney said.
Brayton wanted to use her privilege as a White-passing Asian person to help her family and community. White-passing is when a person of color or of a multiracial descent is accepted or passed as a White person because of their racially ambiguous physical appearance.
“I know that I'm scared for my family that isn't as fortunate as me to be White-passing to go outside and deal with all of the stigma around this right now,” Brayton said.
For Grace Choi, joining the protest was one step closer to solving the problem of discrimination against the AAPI community together.
“I grew up not seeing a lot of other asian people, so it's nice to see everyone together,” Grace said.
She also attended the protest to show support for her sister, Diane, who created the event.
Diane said it felt surreal leading the protest with the amount of support shown. It allowed her to see that she can make a difference in her community.
“Seeing all the minorities come together was a really beautiful thing to see because I know a lot of these minorities are dealing with their own struggles,” Diane said.
Click here to view more pictures of the protest.