Vowing “real action,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced his plan to stem the tide of anti-Asian hate in his state.
CBS13 reports Hogan cited statistics which show that hate crimes in his state have doubled since 2018 and that one-third of Asian Americans have faced discrimination since the start of the pandemic.
“Our Asian-American community is facing challenges worse than they have seen in decades,” Hogan said, reported WBAL. “The actions that we’re announcing here today are the beginning. We will use every tool at our disposal to help provide additional protection to those who are impacted by these crimes.”
Hogan made the announcement with First Lady and Korean American Yumi Hogan by his side.
The Governor pledged to update hate and bias training for law enforcement as well as the reporting of hate and bias crimes. He also said a police commander has been appointed to act as a liaison for hate crimes and racially biased incidents.
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Hogan said the state would increase funding to fight hate crimes by 40 percent to $5 million.
Bilingual information would be posted by the state online.
“Because too many incidents continue to go unreported, and unpunished, we’re publishing a ‘how to report hate crimes and incidents’ document which will be available in Asian languages,” he said according to WTOP.
He said the state would also work with the Maryland State Department of Education to develop courses on Asian American history, as well as fellowships and scholarships to encourage Asian Americans to pursue journalism as a career.
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