Freedom from Fear project provides guidance, support for victims of hate crimes

As a child, Paul Tabayoyon walked several blocks to McKinley Elementary. He and some of the other students at the Yakima school carried whistles in case they faced trouble along the way.

“It creates a very large sound very quickly,” Tabayoyon said, drawing the attention of anyone nearby who could help. A loud whistle is something almost everyone can use, he added.

Tabayoyon is community outreach coordinator for the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of the Yakima Valley, which promotes diversity, racial equality and immigrant rights in the Yakima Valley and Central Washington. It is one of seven Asian Pacific Islander Coalition chapters in the state.

The organization is providing whistles to seniors who may be in danger due to rising anti-AAPI sentiment. AAPI stands for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Handing out whistles is part of the organization’s Freedom from Fear project. The coalition is also distributing cards with information on how to report hate crimes and incidents and who to contact, including law enforcement, medical and mental health professionals. Volunteers handed out the cards and whistles during a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the historic Filipino Hall in Wapato on Thursday.

“We had to do something to make sure our community is aware,” Tabayoyon said.

On March 16, eight people were murdered at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area. Six of those killed were Asian American women. The slayings occurred amid an increasing wave of discrimination fueled by the COVID-19 virus, which was first identified in China.

According to the group Stop AAPI Hate, hate incidents against AAPIs have risen sharply, with more than 6,600 reports collected by Stop AAPI Hate between March 2020 and March 2021. Hate incidents include hate crimes and incidents of violence or discrimination.

“In particular, AAPI women and girls report these hate incidents 2.2 times as often as AAPI men; and AAPI non-binary people have also reported experiencing heightened incidents of hate,” the organization said in a May 20 report.

In the Yakima Valley, smashed windows and racist graffiti at Yakima’s Minado Buffet in March 2020 has been the most high-profile case of anti-AAPI discrimination.

While there aren’t multiple documented cases, and no one has been injured, “we know from word of mouth through the community a lot of people are really hesitant to file” reports, Tabayoyon said.

He encourages anyone who has experienced such incidents to report them to police, city officials and the AAPI Coalition. The incidents become part of a national registry when reported to the coalition, he said.

It’s important to report any incidents — and for witnesses to stand up for others when they see them happening.

“Our communities grow when they work together. We all have the right to not have fear in our own community,” Tabayoyon said.

His grandfather, also named Paul Tabayoyon, was the first of his family who came from the Philippines, he said. His grandfather was witness to anti-Asian sentiment in Yakima in the early to the late 1920s. In 1927, anti-Filipino riots in Yakima resulted in deaths. His grandfather relocated to Wapato and was the secretary when the Filipino Community Hall was built there.

In early June 1942, more than 1,000 Yakima Valley residents of Japanese descent were forced from their homes in and around the city of Yakima and Yakima County’s Lower Valley to incarceration at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming and other centers.

The Yakima Buddhist Church and its Bussei Kaikan are across the street from the Filipino Community Hall.

“Family history is very important. What I realize is that allows me to understand so many issues,” Paul Tabayoyon said. “That’s what really drives me to get involved in these communities.”

“I would be willing to deliver any materials to anyone,” he said.