Congress acts to counter anti-Asian hate crimes
(Gareth Henderson Photo)
Congress has taken action to counter the wave of anti-Asian hate and violence during the pandemic, and advocates say the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is an important step toward that goal.
The House approved the bill on Tuesday, 364-62, sending it to President Joe Biden for his expected signature. The Senate previously passed the legislation 94-1.
This Congressional action comes after multiple incidents of violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the U.S., including the recent shooting in Atlanta in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent. Other incidents elsewhere have included elderly Asian Americans being beaten, and many Asian Americans are now afraid to leave their homes.
The legislation condemns the hate and violence directed against Asian Americans, and takes multiple steps to improve tracking, reporting and investigation of reported hate crimes. Notably, it establishes a position in the U.S. Department of Justice to expedite the investigation of hate crimes and add more ways to report them. Furthermore, that position would have a role in helping interested states set up hotlines for reporting hate crimes. There are also grants available to help local law enforcement in these efforts, and the bill recognizes the role of community organizers in helping with data collection.
Mieko Ozeki, co-founder of Vermont Womenpreneurs and a fourth-generation Chinese-Japanese American, spoke at a press conference in Burlington this week about the bill. She joined U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, of Vermont, and Paul Suk-Hyun Yoon, senior advisor for strategic diversity, assessment and research at the University of Vermont.
In a Tuesday interview, Ozeki said the legislation is essential for addressing anti-Asian hate crimes, because a number of them aren’t reported.
“(The victims) feel like maybe it's a disgrace, or they're fearful for their lives,” she said.
Ozeki said she and her family haven’t experienced violence, but she said a friend of her mother’s in New York City doesn’t feel safe going to the park in her neighborhood, because an individual last week hurled anti-Asian epithets toward her and spat at her when she was out on a walk. On social media, Ozeki has experienced reaction from people downplaying the situation.
“We need to train ourselves to stop digesting information passively, and engage with people and ask about their culture with sincerity," she said.
Ozeki feared for her Chinese American mother in New York and her 100-year-old Japanese American grandmother in Los Angeles, after the first COVID-19 case was reported out of Wuhan, China.
“Though we were vigilant on keeping ourselves safe from the virus, the vitriol of the previous administration triggered fear of violence directed toward my family and I,” Ozeki said at the Monday press conference. “At present, with close to 4,000 reported hate crimes (and many unreported), the violence we see towards our elders, parents, workers of Asian descent are horrific and traumatizing.”
Welch noted that anti-Asian hate crimes reported to the police in the 16 largest U.S. cities rose 164% in the first quarter of 2021 — a pattern that must be stopped.
“The attack on Asian Americans, who are absolutely blameless for COVID, has escalated into scenes that are horrifying for all of us to watch,” Welch said. He has worked closely with U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, of New York, who led the effort to pass the bill in the House. Welch added, “All of us owe each other respect and civility, and when disrespect is based on a person’s ethnicity and national origin, it’s all the more appalling, and it eats away at that fabric that’s so essential for democracy, which is respect and mutual effort.”
Yoon, a second-generation Korean American with family in New York City, said the legislation won’t eradicate racism or stop the attacks on its own.
“However, I believe it centers AAPI experiences and voices, and it will do more to address anti-Asian hate than any legislation we’ve seen to date,” he said at Monday’s event. “I, too, believe everyone in our country deserves to feel safe, and I hope this legislation brings us one step closer to that reality.”
Yoon emphasized that he and Ozeki are members of the group VT APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) for Black Lives, and he encouraged all Vermonters to be “active anti-racists and to fight systemic racism wherever it manifests.”
Beyond the recent legislation, Ozeki said Tuesday it’s important to let Vermonters know that racism also happens here, and if unchecked, it can have more severe results like in Atlanta. She said the seeds of hate can begin with a comment some might think of as innocent — like asking “Where are you from? No really, where are you from?” — but it reinforces racial bias. She also said part of the solution is acknowledging history — her late father was born in one of the U.S. internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.
While the anti-Asian hate crimes bill is a good step forward, she said, education and better understanding of each other is key to addressing racism.
“Essentially, it comes down to having a real dialogue, and seeing the people who are in our communities and the diversity, and not making assumptions,” Ozeki said.
— Gareth Henderson
