After being harassed at a bus stop, BART president shares frustration and safety advice

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Janice Lee felt something hit her neck while she was waiting for a bus in downtown San Francisco. It was a gummy candy and she thought it was from some teenagers near her.

Li said that when she tried to confront the teenagers and asked them to stop, the situation did not improve. Instead, she received racist verbal abuse.

“In this situation, I really felt unsafe,” Lee said. “I felt very targeted.”

Li, a Chinese immigrant and current president of the board of BART, was on his way home from a press conference about women and violence. Then, like many other Asian Americans exposed to anti-Asian hatred, she tweeted about the incident.

“These kinds of incidents on a smaller scale, like verbal abuse or kids throwing gummy worms at you, make people feel unsafe or uncomfortable when traveling on public transportation,” Li said. “Especially for Asian women and the elderly.”

Call the cops?

Lee’s harassment incident occurred when the California State Legislature passed legislation requiring many transportation agencies, including BART and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), to monitor violence and other safety issues.

She also works for the Asian non-profit Coalition for Public Safety and Justice, so this topic is not new to her.

The harassment of Asians has intensified, but some of the minor incidents reported on the Stop AAPI Hate platform do not rise to criminal levels, Li said. And in her own situation, she didn’t call 911 because she knew it wouldn’t help much.

“Don’t get me wrong: I know that serious and dangerous incidents happen at BART and on public transport,” she said. “But the first thing that overwhelmingly makes AAPI women and people feel uncomfortable is verbal harassment.”

She suggested that there should be more community ambassadors whose presence would help and could also provide immediate support to women and the elderly in similar situations. She is also upset that at the time the children were accompanied by an adult who did not interfere. Instead, the woman just laughed.

Witness intervention

Li did not suggest that others do as she did.

“If there was another Asian woman like me in that situation and they felt unsafe, they should have left first,” she said.

Lee then recommends that the victims find someone—even a stranger from a nearby store—and describe to them what happened, saying something like, “The kids are worrying me right now. Can you just stand with me for a minute?

If you witnessed such an incident, do not contact the offenders. Approach the victim and offer help. BART also provides training on witness intervention.

Lee explained that because she has experience working with teenagers, she decided to involve them rather than just leave.

The day after Lee tweeted about her experience, a video went viral showing another incident that appeared to be a stalking and assault that took place on a San Francisco bus.

“These are everyday experiences that people have,” Li said.

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