CAAAV's Racial Justice Committee

By the 1990s, there was a sharp uptick in anti-Asian sentiment in New York City; incidents against working-class Chinese across the boroughs were rising. In 1994, CAAAV’s records indicate an almost 50% increase in attacks against Asians than in the previous year.  Working-class Asian youth throughout the boroughs “described having experienced many acts of police abuse: ID checks as a harassment tactic, illegal searches, illegal detainments, collection of illegal mugshots, and unwarranted arrests." [1]

The Racial Justice Committee (RJC) was founded in the spring of 1996, in the wake of Yong Xin Huang’s murder, with the focus of “community organizing and leadership development with activism, coalition-building, and policy analysis to take on institutional violence in one of its worse forms: police brutality.”[2]

There were three major initiatives: 

• Advocating for victims and continuing to keep constant pressure on the New York Police Department and the District Attorney’s office

• Organizing Racial Justice Day together with the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights 

• Working in coalition with other community organizations to get a Congressional hearing on police brutality. 

The RJC held workshops to teach Chinese residents about growing police abuse, with representatives to answer legal questions and mock educational skits. The RJC created the infrastructure necessary for CAAAV members to continue advocacy for clients after their cases were settled or dismissed and brought together “committee members focus on community organizing through working collectively, particularly individuals who have been victims of police brutality.” [3] It was important to have former victims participate in RJC to bring support and insight into the legal process, be part of the working collective, and draft press releases, speak at rallies, and canvas communities to raise awareness.

One of the major issues was the “rampant police brutality -- unrecognized by state institutions and law enforcement agencies,” which presented itself especially during the Giuliani against Asian and other immigrant communities throughout the five boroughs [4]. As the city legislature intended to veil police violence under the guise of cleaning up criminal activity in New York City, CAAAV (and RJC) were quick to point out any NYPD shortcomings. Initiatives like hiring more Asian police officers, a hotline to report crimes, and community liaisons often fell flat. 

On September 5, 1996, the RJC held a rally in front of the 5^th precinct in Chinatown, where members met with Commanding Officer Thomas Chan, demanding justice for two new cases of anti-Asian harassment by the precinct’s officers. Chan, the 2^nd highest-ranking Chinese American in NYC Law Enforcement, did not attend the rally, opting to attend the annual Feast of San Genaro festival. Afterward, Chan spoke with predominantly Chinese news reporters denouncing one of the people attacked by the 5^th precinct as “a gang member” and even “denouncing CAAAV as an organization that ‘supports gangs.’”[4]

In 1994, the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium study found “a 35% national increase in anti-Asian violence, with the NYPD as the major perpetrator in New York City.”[5] Most of the incidents at the hands of police happen during the day in public spaces, basically in plain view. This simple fact only demonstrates the mainstream blind eye.

In the first year of the Giuliani administration, “complaints of police brutality went up 40% even as they were aggressively gutting the process which makes the police accountable to the tax-paying New Yorkers who hire them to protect and serve.”[6] Over the course of Giuliani’s first term, claims of abuse against the NYPD rose by 75%. At the same time, the NYPD budget doubled from “$1.7 billion in 1993 to $3.1 billion in 2001.” [7] The NYPD force also witnessed enourmous growth during this time - “unformed officers increased from 36,340 in 1993 to 40,710 in 2001.” [8]