Bay Area community leaders denounce White nationalist violence
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- Monday night in San Francisco, community leaders across the ethnic spectrum joined in a call to action following the massacre in Buffalo, New York.
At an emergency meeting of the NAACP inside San Francisco's historic Third Baptist Church, Dr. Amos Brown, the church's senior pastor and president of the San Francisco Chapter of the NAACP, spoke.
"We have lost again. People who look like me -- African Americans. We have to call it for what it is -- it's evil, it's un-American and it does not have a right to exist in a civilized society," Brown said.
Sharing the microphone and Zoom with Dr. Brown, members of the Asian American community said this is a moment for solidarity - to stand with the pioneers of civil rights.
"Without what they have done -- they have laid down the groundwork to support what we have been doing. Without them, I don't think I am able to stand here to speak with you," said Carl Chan, president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.
For members of the Black community, this weekend's shooting was the same old story set in a new location.
"We cannot allow this country, this nation to go backwards y'all. Everybody has to step up to the plate. We have to lock arms, lock hands and do what we got to do together -- Asians, Black, White, Latino, LGBTQ. This ain't nothing new, they did it at the Pulse nightclub," said Mattie Scott, president of the Brady Campaign in California.
"This whole thing is about one thing. It is about fear and intimidation. It isn't about anything else. It is showing if you are a minority in the United States that you cannot be safe anywhere," said Marvin Hall of San Francisco. "I am not scared to go to church, I am not scared to go to the supermarket. I'm not scared to leave my own house."