Hate Crimes Against Asian-Americans: ‘Vicious’, Biden Says
In his address to the nation on Thursday, March 12, US President Joe Biden condemned and demanded an end to the violent racial hate crimes against Asian- Americans that he described as "vicious" and "un-American."
The President denounced "vicious hate crimes against Asian-Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated" while the pandemic is wreaking havoc globally which reportedly came from Wuhan in China.
Critics said that the broader anti-Asian racial discrimination had been fueled by the way former President Donald Trump talked about the virus when he called it "China virus" and among others.
Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of demographic data and policy research nonprofit AAPI Data, said that although hate crimes are not entirely attributed to the Trump administration's rhetoric about coronavirus, the "China virus" comments had played a part in fostering hate.
"What Trump did is that he weaponized it in a way," Ramakrishnan said.
It has not been proven yet what has motivated these acts to be categorized as criminal in nature which shows evidence of ethnic or racial bias, but reported hate crimes against Asian- American had surged and more than doubled from last year that was formerly 49 to 122 in 16 major cities in the country which includes New York and Los Angeles.
An analysis based on the statistics of the police department revealed that the United States experienced a significant increase in anti- Asian hate crimes across the country's major cities last year.
This analysis was done by the "Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism" at the California State University, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, citing that although such crimes decreased by 7 percent overall last year, those who are targeting Asians increased by around 150 percent across the country's 16 major cities.
President Biden said in his speech that marks the anniversary of the declaration of COVID-19 into pandemic by the World Health Organization, "too often, we've turned against one another," and Americans should be working together instead of spreading "vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans."
