Dozens protest rap concert after Asian businesses targeted in armed robberies

Sunday, October 16, 2016
VIDEO: Asian-American protest
Dozens of people gathered Saturday, calling for more action after several people and businesses in the local Asian community were attacked.

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- Rapper YG performed in front of excited fans at the Theatre of Living Arts Saturday night.

But just beyond the doors, near the main entrance, was a group of protesters anxious to see the rapper for completely different reasons.

"We want to get our message across. All we want to do is look into their eyes and say this is wrong," said Cliff Li, New Civil Rights Alliance.

Many in the Chinese-American community are outraged about a 2-year-old song by YG in which he encourages his fans to scope out Chinese neighborhoods to commit burglaries. In the controversial video, one of the actors breaks into a home with a picture of an Asian family.

"YG's song is promoting Chinese families, they don't believe in bank accounts, they have a lot of cash at home," said Han Pan of Willow Grove.

"It's nothing fun to glorify these kind of things," said Li.

Demonstrators say there has been a recent uptick in crimes against those in the Chinese-American community.

"We hope all of the communities comes together. African-Americans, Latinos, Asian, white. Let's all come together... I mean this is just really wrong," said Li.

Asian-American communities around the country are protesting the rapper's song. There is a petition demanding the song be banned, and their specifically asking YouTube to take down the music video.