President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the growing racism and violence against Americans of Asian origin in speeches on Friday that detailed the long history of racism against Americans of Asian origin and called on the country to treat Americans of Asian origin with respect.
Biden and Harris’ joint trip to Atlanta had previously been scheduled as part of the national trip to celebrate the approval of the latest coronavirus aid package. But his plans changed after a sniper killed eight people, including six Asian women, on Tuesday. Demonstrations for supporters were postponed after the shootings that redirected the country’s attention to anti-Asian violence. Biden and Harris met with state legislators from AAPI and community leaders at Emory University.
Harris, the first Asian American to serve as vice president, said that on Tuesday night, she learned that “eight of our neighbors were killed in a heinous act of violence.”
“Racism is real in America, and it always has been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism, too, ”she said, detailing periods in history when Asian Americans were featured, including Japanese internment camps that she called“ obvious and absolute abuse of their civil and human rights ”.
Harris and Biden alluded to people in power blaming the spread of coronavirus in Americans of Asian origin as the cause of the increase in violence.
“Asian Americans were attacked and used as scapegoats. People who are considered Muslims know what it was like to live in our country after 9/11, ”said Harris. “Last year, we had people in positions of incredible power, Asian American scapegoats. People with the biggest pulpits spreading that kind of hatred. “
During the pandemic, former President Donald Trump often referred to COVID-19 as the “China Virus” and “Kung Flu”. He argued that the terms were not racist.
A recently released Stop AAPI Hate report found that there were at least 3,795 hate incidents reported that targeted Americans of Asian origin from March 19, 2020 – shortly after the pandemic was declared – until February 28.
Biden did not even call the hate crime shootings in Atlanta, but he acknowledged the violence that Asian Americans faced.
“Whatever the motivation, we know this: many Asian Americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying, waking up every morning last year feeling that their safety and the safety of their loved ones are at stake,” said Biden. “They are warning again what we have always known: words have consequences.”
Biden urged the Senate to pass the COVID-19 Hate Crime Act, which would require reviews of hate crimes reported across the country and the Department of Justice to issue guidelines on establishing online reporting systems.
“For all the good that the laws can do, we have to change our hearts,” said Biden. “Hate cannot have a safe haven in America.”