Melissa Min (L) participates in a vigil with her son James in solidarity with the Asian American community after the increase in attacks on the community since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic a year ago, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 17, 2021.
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters
President Joe Biden on Friday called on Congress to “quickly approve” hate crime legislation to deal with increased discrimination and violence against Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Covid-19 Hate Crime Act aims to increase the Department of Justice’s oversight of coronavirus-related hate crimes, provide support for state and local law enforcement agencies, and make hate crime information more accessible to Asian American communities. .
The move comes days after a shooting in Georgia that killed eight people, including six Asian women. President and Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to meet with Asian American leaders in Atlanta on Friday.
“Although we still don’t know why, as I said last week, we condemn in the strongest possible terms the continuing crisis of gender and anti-Asian violence that has long plagued our nation,” said Biden in a statement.
The endorsement also comes a day after a Congressional hearing on violence against Asian Americans, the first in 34 years.
Biden and several lawmakers and activists on Thursday’s panel urged Congress to pass hate crime legislation introduced by Rep. Grace Meng, DN.Y., and Senator Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, earlier this week. month.
Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, is seen during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, appointed attorney general, on Monday, February 22, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
A study by the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate released on Tuesday recorded 3,795 reports of hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders between March 19, 2020 and February 28, 2021.
Incidents include verbal slander, physical abuse, workplace discrimination and online harassment, among other forms of prejudice. Many of the incidents have been reported retroactively from 2020.
The group emphasizes that the count represents only a fraction of the number of hate incidents experienced by Asian Americans across the country.
Some political leaders and advocates during the Congressional hearing noted that hate crime legislation does not necessarily address all forms of hatred experienced by Asian Americans.
At a news conference in Atlanta on Thursday morning, Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen said: “Hate crime laws are not preventive. They are used later as a prosecution tool.”
Prosecuting hate crimes requires law enforcement to find evidence that the incidents are racially motivated.
“While many of the recent anti-Asian incidents may not meet the legal definition of hate crime, these attacks nevertheless create an unacceptable environment of fear and terror in Asian American communities,” said Representative Steve Cohen, D-Tenn ., During the panel of the house.