President Joe Biden Calls For a Stop to ‘Un-American’ Hate Crimes Against Asian-Americans
In his prime-time address on March 11, President Joe Biden condemned the increase of hate crimes and attacks on the Asian-American populations. Biden called out those who have “attacked, harassed, blamed, and scapegoated” Asian-Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attacks against Asian-Americans have increased dramatically since the pandemic began. One reason is that many Americans, including former President Donald Trump, nicknamed the coronavirus’s novel strain first documented in Wuhan, China, as the “Chinese virus.”
Biden’s prime-time address served as the first anniversary of the World Health Organization classifying the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a pandemic. In his speech, Biden addressed the daily anxiety and dread shared and suffered by many Asian-Americans living in the country during this past year.
President Biden is correct. Asian Americans are fighting to save the lives, of the very people that discriminate against them. It must stop.
— Steve🏳️🌈🇨🇿🇺🇸 (@heisenberg6771) March 12, 2021
“They’re forced to live in fear for their lives just walking down streets in America,” Biden said. “It’s wrong. It’s un-American, and it must stop.”
According to Stop AAPI Hate, an organization dedicated to reporting Asian-American hate crimes, there have been more than 3,000 hate crimes against Asian-Americans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, these attacks constitute both verbal and physical confrontations.
In addition to Biden’s comments in his prime-time address, the president also spoke out against racism and discrimination against Asian-Americans in a January 26 memorandum. In the piece, Biden accepted responsibility for the previous administration’s actions and role “in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin.”
Thank you @JoeBiden for speaking up clearly and forcefully against the scapegoating of Asian Americans.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) March 12, 2021
Nevertheless, the prime-time address is the first time Biden verbally issued these sentiments. Biden’s speech is available in full below.
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