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Biden signs Hate Crime Bill: “We have to change our hearts”

By Louis Chan, AsAmNews National Correspondent

President Joe Biden signed the anti-Asian hate crime bill into law today saying we have to change hearts.

“All the good the law will do, we have to change our hearts. We have to change the hearts of the American people,” he said. “Hate can’t , I mean this from the bottom of my heart, hate can not be given no safe harbor in America. I mean it. No safe harbor.”

The president signed the measure in the East Room of the White House.

All those behind the President were thanked for their leadership in winning bipartisan support. They included Vice President Harris, Senators Hirono (D-HI) Duckworth (D-IL), Blumenthal (D-CT), Moran (R-KS) with Reps Meng (D-NY), Chu(d-CA), Beyer (D-VA) and Upton (R-MI)

“Everyone of us are lessened and we’re all hurt by this hate,” Biden said before signing the bill. “Words have consequences, and silence is complicity. We have to speak out. We have to act. That’s what you’ve done”

The President declared that hope and love can be contagiious.

Vice President Harris pointed out in her opening remarks that just one year ago, there were 1100 anti-Asian hate incidents reported. Today there are 6600, according to Stop AAPI Hate.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris celebrate signing of Hate Crime Bill

She declared that “history will remember this day and this moment when our nation took action to combat hate.”

“I have seen how hate can pervade our communities. And I have seen how people uniting against hate can strengthen our country.”

The law will expedite review of hate crimes by the Justice Department and make reporting of such incidents easier at the state and local levels.

It also calls for the appointment of a single person whose sole job will be to speed up review of hate crimes. It also calls for increased training and resources at the local level to report hate crimes.

“Racism exists in America. Xenophobia exist in America. Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia-it all exists,” said Harris.

Biden recalled visiting Atlanta after the spa shooting that killed eight people. He remembers sitting down with Asian American leaders in Georgia following that shooting.

“They felt invisible and not seen,” remembered Biden. “We heard how too many Asian Americans have been waking up each morning genuinely fearing for their safety.”

A new report released jointly today by Stop AAPI Hate and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum found Asian American women reported 2.2 times more hate incidents than Asian American men. Pacific Islander women also reported a high rate of incidents.

67.6 percent were by East Asians, 16.2 percent were by Southeast Asians, 8.1 percent were by Multiethnic Asian women, 6.7 percent were by Multiracial Asian women, and 1.3 percent were by South Asians.

Verbal harassment is the most common type of hate incidents, ranging from 37% for South Asians to 52.6% for East Asians. Avoidance and physical assault are the second and third most common reported type of hate incident.

More than 51% of Pacific Islander women felt impacted by anti-AAPI hate with 21% saying they felt discriminated against or felt harassment in the workplace.

The report called for culturally competent and language-accessible services, greater resources to local communities and organizations, data disaggregation, attention to workplaces and greater enforcement of hate crimes.

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