Rallies across SoCal call for end to anti-Asian violence, hateful rhetoric

KOREATOWN, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Rallies across Southern California were held Sunday in conjunction with a nationwide effort to condemn the growing hate and violence targeting the Asian American community.

While there has been a rise in anti-Asian violence around the country, the mass shootings in Georgia that left eight people dead -- six of them Asian women -- nearly two weeks ago have the community on edge.

Churches across the country took part in prayer rallies, acknowledging the pain by the Asian American Pacific Islander community and focusing on the healing and social justice needed to move forward and to ultimately stop the hate.

At one rally in Koreatown, participants read the names of the women who were killed in the Georgia shootings.

"I think we have to acknowledge the problem," said Pastor Tom Kang with New Story Church. "I think we have to acknowledge the fact that there is pain, there is hurt and there is injustice. I think we start there first and acknowledge the truth. The light shines on the truth and it draws away all darkness."

In Carson, a rally was held in front of city hall with local officials calling for change and asking everyone to stand in solidarity with the Asian community while condemning hate crimes and racist rhetoric.