A California neighborhood came together to stand guard outside the Si family home every night after the family was harassed in a series of racially motivated incidents.
Haijun Si moved his family into the Orange County neighborhood of Ladera Ranch in September. Almost immediately, teenagers began making nightly appearances to repeatedly ring the doorbell, pound on the door and yelling. One told him to “go back to his country.” Others used racial slurs or threw rocks, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“My kids are scared. I’m very annoyed,” Si said to the outlet. “At night, my wife and I could not sleep for more than three or four hours. Please, parents, tell your kids don’t do that again.”
To deter the teens, Si installed a new fence on his property, put up video cameras, and got the local sheriff’s department to open up an investigation. Nothing made a difference until their neighbors got involved.
“I did not understand the extent of the harassment and how often it was occurring, at first. I was immediately outraged and wanted to help,” neighbor Layla Parks told the Times.
Parks shared video footage of the Si’s harassment in a local Facebook group. On February 13, people began volunteering to stand watch outside the home. Some of the volunteers post up near the home, while others are stationed around the neighborhood. And although the attacks have decreased, one evening, a group of kids threw rocks at Si and the volunteers.
“I love my neighbors,” Si told the Post. “I love my community, and I love my country.”
And the Sis are not alone. Violent attacks on Asian Americans have been steadily rising in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. According to Alison Edwards, chief executive of the nonprofit OC Human Relations, preliminary statistics from 2020 show a tenfold increase in hate incidents against Asian Americans in Orange County.
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