Some of San Francisco's most prominent leaders gathered Thursday to address recent racist incidents in the city and around the Bay Area.
The message was crystal clear: racism will be called out, and it won’t and shouldn’t be tolerated.
"The time has come for us to call out the bigotry, hate," Rev. Amos Brown said.
Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP, led Thursday's gathering at Third Baptist Church. He spoke out against a handful of incidents that have people raising serious concerns about the rise of anti-Black racism in the Bay Area.
"Citizens are here because they want to know what is going on in San Francisco," Brown said.
Last week, racist graffiti was scrawled on the building used by Youth 1st, an after school and summer program.
It wasn’t the only incident at the site. Youth 1st Executive Director Renard Monroe said a woman recently used racial slurs in a confrontation with him.
"It's unfortunate that we have to go through this through day and age our grandparents fled to the north to get away from these type of incidents that we're still experiencing today," Monroe said.
Wendy Drew, the chef profiled in a recent Netflix show, shared another incident in which she said a man hurled racist slurs and then attacked her this past weekend.
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"I turned, said, 'Why are you calling me that?'" she said. "Normally I’m thinking verbal don’t do that again, it's wrong, but instead he comes and he starts hitting me."
The man is now facing charges.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins reinforced the collective message that the city won't stand for hate.
"It is our job to come together and thank you Rev. Brown, that we call it out, that we ensure there is accountability for it when it crosses the criminal, also that we remind each other that we must do better," she said.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott reminded people to report incidents. He acknowledged there have been some disturbing cases that shouldn’t happen in 2024.
After the event, he spoke with reporters outside who asked whether heightened concerns about a rise in hate are in line with what police are seeing.
"When you have high-profile incidents, it puts more of a spotlight on it," he said. "The numbers haven’t escalated to that degree but they dynamic of how people feel when you get a lot coverage on a particular incident, I think it amplifies and makes people a lot more anxious."
All involved said the bottom line is that one incident is one too many, and they won't stand for it.
