this is "nightline." >> tonight, a slew of anti-asian hate crimes across the country. racial abuse. >> asian piece of [ bleep ]. >> vicious attacks. >> the pain of the asian community has been muted for decades. >> now how one community is fighting back from the streets. to the halls of congress. >> we are made to foal that we amernot good plus the roots of faith. chronicling the mission and the music. ♪ dry my tears away ♪ >> of the black church. >> the church gave people a sense of value. i don't know how we could have survived as a people without it. >> inside the new docuseries.

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see your volvo retailer for details. ♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. from hate speech, physical attacks, and fatal injuries, more and more asian-americans are becoming the victims of racially motivated crimes. just yesterday, two

asian-american senior citizens were assaulted in separate incidents here in new york city. tonight the activists who are battling bigotry. my "nightline" coanchor juju chang has the story. ♪ >> reporter: she's grieving for her father, an always gentle soul. ♪ happy birthday dear grandpa ♪ >> reporter: her dad vichar moved from thailand to san francisco to help his daughter and son-in-law, eric, take care of their two sons. it wasn't long before the whole neighborhood fell in love with grandpa. >> grandpa always friendly to all the neighbors, grandpa always teaching us about forgiveness. all the neighbor remember him and his smiling. >> reporter: but this is the video no daughter wants to see. surveillance cameras capturing the moment her 84-year-old dad was attacked and violently knocked to the ground on a

morning walk. >> it's painful. i don't want to see it. it's a broken heart. >> reporter: vichar died two days later in the hospital. >> he never wake up again, bleeding on his brain. >> what did you say to him when you got to see him in the hospital? >> dad, wake up. i want him to stay alive and wake up and come and see me again. but he never wake up again. and i pray for him. >> reporter: the thai immigrant's death one of a slew of assaults against elderly asian-americans in northern california, drawing the spotlight after celebrities like daniel woo and daniel day kim brought star power and a $25,000 reward. >> a visceral response, i got very angry. i thought, this is now a year of these kinds of things going on. >> reporter: the videos prompting more than 1,000 people

lice arrested a 19-year-old n -n suspect who pled not guilty to murder and elderly abuse. his lawyers saying his client had no knowledge of mr. ratanapakdee's race since his face was fully covered, insisting his attack wasn't racially motivated and instead had to do with a mental break. even no hate crime charges were filed, some blame the tension between black people and asian-americans. >> i think they targeting to the asian-american community. >> we need the black community to realize that black people are hurting asians, and they need to speak out in their own community. >> it isnd asian issue. it is something in the psyche of this country where somehow it's

okay to abuse -- physically or verbally abuse asian-americans. we're being scape goated. >> how do you try to distinguish between crimes of opportunity, crimes of simple rage, versus racism? >> we can talk about all the nuances, but this is not just one community. it is every community. we have the tech ceo in silicon valley who verbally abused an asian family in a restaurant. >> [ bleep ] asian piece of [ bleep ]. >> then we have torrance karen. >> go back to whatever [ bleep ] asian country you belong in. >> reporter: community leader dr. connie won says it's clear asians are being scapegoated and blamed for the things publicly, like the wuhan virus -- >> the china flu. the chen virus. the plague from china. >> he helped to stoke the fires of anti-asian violence against

our communities. >> reporter: stop aapi hate began collecting more than 2,800 reports nationwide of anti-asian hate between march and december. the nypd reporting a nearly 2,000% increase in asian-american hate crimes last year. but dr. won says thes tip of th iceberg. >> our communities are not reporting these incidents. we don't want to cause more trouble, more attention to our communities. >> reporter: in this moment, with calls for racial justice echoing, a broader conversation is taking shape. >> historically, there have been tensions between the african-ancos. georgeloseen before. more asian-americans standing up in support of black lives matter. myself included. and so i'm hoping that that momentum carries over into these cases, because it really ultimately is about a

collective, unified response to injustice. >> reporter: historically, black and asian-americans have come into conflict in big cities, perhaps most dramatically during the unrest in los angeles following the rodney king verdict. >> a riot sparked by what was felt to be an unjust verdict for a black man also became an economic war against koreans. >> in what ways have blacks been pitted against asians? >> white america tends to privilege asians and asian-americans in ways they do not our black and latinx community members. it is about the model minority myth, which is that our communities are excelling. "pretty rich asians." the bling empire. those are not the real-life depictions of what our i h i ties really look like. pa of theenio

movehatomtud. vible and ignored in our country. the pain of the asian community has been muted for decades. >> reporter: the actor flew from his home in new york to the bay area to spend the weekend in san francisco's historic chinatown. handing out self-defense whistles. passing out pamphlets in chinese informing people how to report hate crimes in their communities. ham also met with local leaders on the ground. >> you don't fight racism with racism, you fight racism with solidarity. >> reporter: quickly realized he has a lotlearn. >> this is the oakland anti-asian racism and violence rally. joined by our black brothers and sisters. >> this is a call to action to everybody else who believes. >> asian-american history is american history that needs to be taught. when they came to the bay area, i first learned about all these

incredible asian-americans who have been doing the work for decades and utilizing their relationships with black community leaders and a lot of the solidarity work that has been happening here to condemn the violence, to condemn the anti-asian hate crimes. >> reporter: activists are also looking towards lawmakers likew mang. last year she passed a house resolution condemning anti-asian hate speech. >> i started to get voice mails -- >> i'm calling about the karate kid virus. >> hey, you look like a chinese virus, you fat slob. >> there was just so much hate. and even though i and so many asian-americans were born and raised in the united states of america, there are always instances where we are made to feel that we are foreigners. it's like when you're shouting in the wilderness, our people are getting attacked, our people

are getting harassed, spat on, beat up, slashed. please, somebody pay attention. please, notice us. give me confirmation that i am american too. and i just haven't been able to feel that in a long time. >> i know you have children. i'm a mom too. what do you say to them? >> i said, look, this is what's going on. there are people in this country who will take a look at you and without knowing anything about you, may call you something that is derogatory, may even try to cause harm to you. >> it strikes me that this is the asian equivalent of "the talk" that african-american parents often have to have with their children. >> i've had, you know, very sort of superficial talks about, you know, understanding people's different racial backgrounds. it was really one of the first

times that i as a mom of two young boys started to be scared for their life and what might happen to them in public. >> reporter: that fear is something their young sons, who lost their grandfather so tragically, have had to deal with firsthand. >> i've been outside with the kids, and then i've been attacked verbally. the yelling and then, "you are sick, you are a virused asian." >> how did your kids react to that? >> we know there is violence, we just walk away. >> reporter: that pain pales in comparison to her father's murder. we want the healing and recognition of what's going on. >> i miss him a lot, every day. he's a caring person. we can't believe this happened. >> our thanks to juju. next up, inside the black

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it is an institution as sacred as any in america. born out of struggle, it has soothed souls and forged steel in the spine of black families for generations. it's now the focus of a new pbs docuseries from dr. henry lewis gates jr. a uniquely american story.

♪ this is our story ♪ >> reporter: they were the first praise houses that became today's black church. >> the black church's start in n america, what was its role? >> it was the main place of contact, it was ground zero. everything that was essential to our everyday living. it was many people's first introduction to entertainment. it was a stage, it was a theater. >> you know, entertainment shouldn't be in the church. what do you think the preacher does? >> the role of music in the black church is everything. >> reporter: the black church has been the driving force, shaping the history of the black experience and playing a crucial role in the fight for equality. >> did jn e ch? >> i j the age tha when when i feel like y got it. >> the black church has

sustained the african-american people from the days of slavery to this day. >> reporter: now the black church is being chronicled in a pbs four-hour docuseries. >> who are the five greatest black preachers of all time? >> there's so many. >> reporter: narrated and executive produced by historian and author dr. henry lewis gates. >> the church gave people a sense of value and of belonging and of worthiness. i don't know how we could have survived as a people without it. >> tell us a little bit about the documentary and who is it for? >> this documentary is for the entire black community, but i >>epte the of americanwell 400-year history of the black church, the docuseries highlights when thousands of enslaved africans came to america's shores, bringing with them the spirituality and customs that would form their christianity. ♪

from the beginning, religion and activism intersected. the civil rights movement led by mostly religious figures like the reverend martin luther king jr. >> i am convinced that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in our struggle for freedom and human dignity. >> reporter: places of worship became the space to inform and educate black people of their rights, mobilizing them to the polls en masse. the docuseries also highlighting some of the church's flaws. >> it was really important for us that this not just be a kiss tohela church, we're really honest about some of the places where the church has fallen short. >> we were very quick to address racism, but very slow to address sexism. >> we're still dealing with churches who don't recognize women as preaches. >> we serve a jesus who came and

turned over the tables! >> we're dealing with churches wrestling with whether or not they will recognize same-sex marriage. >> you guys make clear that the black church, like america, is continuing to evolve. >> the church has that choice. it can do that change, or it can stay stagnant. ♪ oh the power yeah ♪ >> reporter: part of the church's evolution can be seen and heard in one sacred space, music. songs steeped in struggle. but brimming with hope. ♪ so rise with jesus ♪ >> music is everything. it was a way of remembering the story of jesus and his redemption and the story of the israelites, you know. from the underground stories. and so music is the lifeblood. ♪ oh yeah ♪ >> if you could sum up the message of gospel music in one word, what would that one word be? >> reviving.

>> reporter: four-time grammy award winner, billboard chart topper, lifetime achievement award winner yolanda adins ts. ed redefine modern gospel. >> gospel music transcends location. it transcends race. it transcends gender. it transcends all of that. because the messaayo pure. you had folks like rosetta thorpe who started in the church, but really was the mother of the rock 'n' roll sound. so that's where your chuck berry, that's where they got those riffs. you know, we've been doing this kind of ground-breaking stuff for a while. >> what was mama's favorite song? >> whoo, gosh. ♪ he knows just how much we can bear ♪ >> can a brother hear a bar of it? can i hear a little of it? show me now. ♪ we are heavenly father's

children ♪ >> reporter: old songs that have stirred new souls for generations. ♪ yet there are times when we find the answer ♪ >> "the black church: this is our story, this is our song" available to stream now on pbs.org and the pbs video app. up next, acts of heartwarming charity in states snowed under. ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) (loud music & noises) ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs.

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♪ finally tonight, texans helping texans in times of crisis. across the lone star state, winter storms leaving families without food and power. but neighbors give a helping hand. like the gallery furniture store in texas opening its doors for a family meal. or victorian bobby dill bringing supplies to those in need. >> we come back to a warm house with food. ashe good book says, love your neighbor as you love yourself. that's "nightline" for this evening. watch our full episodes on hulu.

we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night.