By Ben Fong-Torres
San Francisco
The Year of the Rat
Being an older Chinese American, I am no longer, as Roy Orbison sang, “Running Scared.” I am walking scared, constantly looking around and behind me.
Stop AAPI Hate, the advocacy group, knows of nearly 4,000 cases of violence against Asian Americans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s time to stop the beatings and shootings, the blaming and finger-pointing.
For me, it’s also time to think back just over a year ago.
It was February, a few days before the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. 2020. Word of the coronavirus had started to spread, as we awaited the Year of the Rat.
I was in Oakland for script readings at KTVU, which broadcasts the parade, and has had me as a co-anchor since 1997.
At our meetings, which take place around lunch time, we are offered deli sandwiches one day; tepid ravioli and salads the next. It’s enough to drive one to actual restaurants.
That’s how I found myself at a soul food place in Jack London Square.
It wasn’t busy when I entered, around 2 p.m. A couple of parties were there. They were Black, as were the staff. But when one of the customers saw me, I got a most unfriendly glare. It felt like a “What are you doing here?” look.