On April 11, 1997, a group of three Asian American students, three Japanese international students and one white student exited Denny's restaurant in Syracuse after being denied service. A large group of white males followed the students into the parking lot, yelled racial slurs at them and started throwing punches, leaving two unconscious. And security guards just stood by and watched. Afterwards, the district attorney dismissed the altercation as a drunken brawl and chose not to prosecute the attackers. The incident sparked a protest movement among diverse members of the Syracuse community, who stood up and spoke out against this hate crime.
That was ten years ago. Today marks the anniversary of the Denny's incident, and the Syracuse University community is holding several events in remembrance: Denny's Incident: 10 Year Remembrance. As we all know, what happened ten years ago could easily happen today. We've already seen similar incidents elsewhere numerous times. How much has really changed? The fact of the matter is, there is still a hell of a lot work to be done. For more information on the incident and what's being done today, check out this blog and the movement's MySpace.