This fall, my partner and I decided to take our children and flee Washington D.C. for Raleigh, North Carolina. We had lived in the nation’s capital for 15 years, but a series of violent encounters made it clear that we could not protect ourselves — let alone our children — while living in the District.
Within six months this year, my partner and I were targeted in three violent incidents. A man threatened to kill me and nearly hit me with his car following a traffic accident near downtown D.C. A customer at a local grocery store berated my partner with a racist rant (she is Hawaiian) while pinning her against our car. We were both assaulted outside a clothing store one afternoon and were only spared by a bystander who stepped in to fend off the attacker.
I thank God our two young children were not with us during these attacks.
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