Chief Johnnie Adams on Anti-Asian Violence

The Police Chief of Santa Monica College delves into his perspective on anti-Asian racism and the history behind it.

In recent months, racist attacks against Asian Americans have increased. These include the Atlanta spa shootings where six women of Asian descent were killed on March 16, and the stabbing of an elderly Asian man in San Francisco on April 10. Because of these incidents, there is more attention on anti-Asian hate, and people are pushing for change.

President Franklin Roosevelt established Japanese internment camps during World War II by signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Roosevelt created these camps with the intention of preventing espionage on American shores after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces. However, Executive Order 9066 commanded the relocation of Japanese Americans and it affected about 117,000 lives.

Johnnie Adams, the Chief of Police for Santa Monica College (SMC), has an 88-year-old mother and a late great cousin who were a few of many Japanese victims that were sent to these internment camps. "It kind of got me curious to think, 'I must have relatives here in the United States'... I just don't know who they are and where they are," he said.

Chief of police Johnnie Adams pose for Portrait for the Corsair.(Friday 10/04/2019 Photo Kevin Tidmore The Corsair)

Throughout his life, Chief Adams has received offhand microaggressions from others, including some of his own friends. "I think a lot of it is internalized for me because... I see it, I don't like it. But as I've gotten older, I've been more vocal about... not tolerating it because I think no one was born with bias or hate or racism, and I think it's a learned behavior," said Chief Adams. "If you don't [call out] people for it, they will never learn and they may not think it's offensive to you."

Chief Adams believes that these microaggressions were encouraged by former President Donald Trump and his racist statements about Asian people, such as when he called COVID-19 "the Chinese virus" starting on March 16, 2020.

"It seems like maybe the last Presidential Administration kind of made it okay based on his behavior and I think it has [emboldened] people to say and do things that are not okay. But they may think it's okay or they may have a platform now," said Chief Adams.

SMC has promoted awareness of anti-Asian violence by having the Board of Trustees address the harmful consequences in a meeting on April 6, while standing in solidarity with the students and the Asian community at large. They are also holding different forums for people to voice their concerns. 

"I'm a mentor [for the Men of Color Mentoring Program of SMC]... we've talked about how we need to step up our game and ally with others to make them feel that we're one community," said Chief Adams. "It's tough because right now in a pandemic... I concentrate on [COVID-19] a lot when I could be spending time dealing with some of these issues."

He hopes that SMC students will be able to report these harmful incidents so that the school's police department is aware of the campus climate. But more importantly, Chief Adams urges students to be aware of their surroundings and never go alone to places where they might feel confronted. Along with SMC providing resources such as the Wellness Center, a 24/7 hotline, and the Care and Prevention Team, he aims to help students by coming up with better solutions.