The San Antonio City Council passed a resolution Thursday condemning anti-Asian hate speech inspired by the coronavirus, reports News4 San Antonio.
The resolution reads in part “The deliberate use of terms such as “Chinese virus” or “Kung Fu virus” to describe COVID-19 only encourages hate crimes and incidents against Asians.”
The resolution is authored by Mayor Ron Nirenberg who is of mixed Filipino, Malay, Indian, and British heritage from his mother’s side.
“Unfortunately during times of crises we do see the best of humanity and sometimes we also see the worst,’ says Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who initiated the resolution. “There has been a rise of hate speech throughout the course of this pandemic.”
According to the Daily Mail, US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) called the resolution “nuts.”
‘This is NUTS. SA City Council behaving like a lefty college faculty lounge, triggered by Chick-fil-A & the words “Wuhan virus,” he tweeted.
Nirenberg, however, is standing firm.
“We’ve seen incidents that are clearly racist in nature all around this country, and we’ve even seen some incidents here. But this is really about standing in solidarity with all the members of our community,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg told reporters, according to KSAT.
Councilwoman Shirley Gonzalez also supported the resolution, pointing out that a Chinese restaurant in business for 90 years has been among those targeted by hate speech.
“They’re a Chinese restaurant family and they have been threatened. They have been the victims of hate speech and hate crimes, with vandalism and that sort of thing on their property,” she told News4 San Antonio.
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