Philly Asian Americans have experienced a year of hateful acts, and fear it’s going to get even worse

By Erin McCarthy | Inquirer.com

The rise in reported acts of hate has left people in the Asian community shaken and traumatized, constantly on edge, and worried they or a loved one could be the next person assaulted or killed.

Stephen Kulp was walking on a Center City street this summer, adjusting his face mask to ensure it covered his nose and mouth, when he was attacked for existing.

“Chinese virus, go back to where you came from!” the man shouted, his voice full of hate.

Near busy Broad and Locust Streets, the stranger then broke away from his group of friends, following Kulp.

“He was throwing extremely racist slurs at me,” Kulp said. “It’s hard to even recount because it was so intense and aggressive.”

The man’s friends eventually pulled him away, cutting off the attack. Kulp ducked into the lobby of an apartment building to collect himself.

It was the second time since last March, when the coronavirus pandemic began, that the 32-year-old had been verbally assaulted while walking by himself in Philadelphia.

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