Asian-American lawmakers beg Republicans to moderate rhetoric after the attacks

Asian-American lawmakers beg Republicans to moderate rhetoric after the attacks

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“Your president, your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country you want, but you don’t have to do that by placing a target on the back of Asian Americans across the country, on our grandparents, on our children” Congresswoman Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, told Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy.

“This audience was to address the pain and pain in our community and find solutions, and we will not allow you to take our voice away from us,” she added.

On Thursday, during the hearing, Roy said his “concern for this audience is that it seems to want to venture into policing rhetoric in a free society, free speech and away from the rule of law and taking out the bad guys”.

“I think the Chinese Communist Party rules the country in China, I think they are the bad guys,” he said.

In arguing that Americans “want justice” for victims, Roy also said, “There is an old saying in Texas about finding the whole rope in Texas and getting a tall oak. You know, we take justice very seriously and we should do that. , gather the bad guys. ”

Democratic MP Ted Lieu, who is a Taiwanese immigrant who served on the US Air Force, also opposed Roy’s statements, saying the hearing “is not about police speech”.

“I was on active duty so you can say what you want under the First Amendment, you can say stupid and racist things if you want,” Lieu said in comments on Thursday. “But I am asking you to stop using racist terms like ‘Kung flu’ or ‘Wuhan virus’ or other ethnic identifiers to describe this virus. I am not a virus and when you say things like that, it harms the Asian American community.”

His comments were made during the first House hearing on discrimination against Asian Americans in more than three decades. Anti-Asian hate incidents have been on the rise since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

During Thursday’s hearing, several Asian-American lawmakers, including Reps. Meng, Doris Matsui, Judy Chu, Young Kim and Michelle Steel and Senator Tammy Duckworth testified about the discrimination the community has faced.

“Our community is bleeding. We are suffering and screaming for help,” said Meng.

Other panel witnesses include actor Daniel Dae Kim, University of Minnesota professor Erika Lee, and Asian American President of Advancing Justice, John C. Yang, along with other advocates and experts.

Reports of anti-Asian hate incidents have increased in recent months, including several unprovoked violent attacks on elderly Asian Americans, with at least three in the bay area captured in disturbing videos this year.
White supremacy and hatred are haunting Asian Americans
Asian Americans reported being shot at least 500 times in the first two months of this year, according to a recent report by the organization Stop AAPI Hate. Most of them – 68% – were verbal harassers, while 11% involved physical assaults, according to Stop AAPI Hate. The group said it has received at least 3,795 complaints since it began monitoring violence and harassment against Asian Americans and the Pacific Islands on March 19 last year.

The House committee hearing on Thursday also addressed the history of racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans, which dates back to the 19th century.

The hearing also comes after a series of shootings in the Atlanta area left eight dead – six of whom were Asian women. Although the motive for the killer is still being investigated, the murders have exacerbated fears among the Asian-American community.

In a statement on Wednesday, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, deputy Jerry Nadler, and the subcommittee chairman, deputy Steve Cohen, said “horrific violence” in Georgia is “another reminder of why we urgently need resolve the fear that plagues the Asian American community, in part due to racist incidents related to the coronavirus pandemic. “

This story has been updated with further developments.

CNN’s Nicole Chavez and Sarah Fortinsky contributed to this report.

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