During the week of August 10th, HD Lee, an Asian American woman, was ordering food at a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles when Frederick Douglas Smith started verbally attacking her, yelling phrases like “Go Back to Asia” and “F***ing b***h”.
Smith had originally attempted to get Lee to eat with him when Lee was on a work call, but she had rejected him, stating that she was married. He then proceeded to get closer to Lee, verbally abusing her while mentioning racist remarks not only regarding her race but also her body appearance. He was screaming “you look like sh**” and “fu**** Asian pun*”.
The video has also shown how Lee was crying for help several times to the bystanders in the store, but no one stood up to help her. Smith then continued to step closer to Lee and make fun of how no one was helping her until the end when Smith had already spat out all the racist remarks at Lee.
This is a case that severely violated the victim’s privacy and blatantly disrespected the victim of her gender and ethnicity. Not only has Lee been thrown extremely xenophobic and racist words, she has been remarked a woman of no value simply because she clearly and rightfully stated that she does not want Smith to approach her any closer as well. Although the circumstances may not always allow, people need to be there for one another, especially when hate crimes and cases of shaming like these occur. It does not matter what the color, the body structure, the gender, or the appearance of a person are— they must all be respected and supported.