On Thursday, Joe Biden, the current president of the US, signed into rule the Coronavirus Hate Crimes Act. The Anti-Asian Hate crime bill was passed between the Congress in a progressively sparse display of bipartisanship. It is acclaiming the effort of a notable intervention in a deadlocked Washington.
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Lawmakers behind the roll out of Anti-Asian Hate Crime Bill
Kamala Harris, the first Asian woman vice president, inaugurated the signing occasion by appreciating the attending lawmakers for their effort. This included Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democratic member of Hawaii, and Representative Grace Meng, a Democratic member of New York.
A Republican of Maine, Susan Collins, attended the ceremony that predominantly consisted of the Democrats. President Biden himself approved of her involvement. White House saw an extensive occasion without social distancing and masks. Dismissing COVID protocols have been a trend ever since Biden’s administration began.
Harris offered her gratitude to the Congress associates of the United States; they helped them permit the Coronavirus Hate Crimes Act. She also said it was a historic day as their nation took steps towards fighting hate.
President Biden stands strong against Asian hate
Biden stated that he hoped the signing event that took place during the Heritage Month of AAPI marked the conclusion of the first noteworthy break in this highly partisan period. Additionally, he stated the move ensures that they are looking over Asian Americans.
He said for hundreds of years, Islanders from the Pacific, Hawaiians, and Asian Americans contributed to the nation’s diversity. However, they face domination, disregard, and neglection a lot. He claimed that this message was with respect to all those who were hurting and that they were being seen. Congress also said that they were being seen and that they were determined to abolish hate and prejudice.
Biden termed ill-behavior towards Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as un-American. He also said that silence is complicated and that and there was no need to complicate things further. It was necessary for them to act and that he was proud and grateful for that day.
CDC declared a new counsel for people vaccinated against COVID-19. Many Democratic lawmakers joined in East Room, lacking masks and not practicing distancing for appraisal of the bill.
Right before the event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke to each other. They were seated in the front row alongside Doug Emhoff.
A reporter soon asked how Pelosi felt as the White House went without masks. To that she said it felt fabulous.
Several incidents of hate occurred between 2020 and 2021
In view of the increased violence suffered by the Asian Americans in the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the law enactment intends to accelerate the evaluation of the pandemic-linked hate crimes. It made grants accessible to aid the local law enactment to improve the reporting of prejudice-driven occasions.
This precisely guides the Department of Justice to appoint an individual to aid with a stimulated review of the coronavirus hate incidents. Additionally, it provides instruction for local and state law enactment bodies to initiate online documentation in several languages of hate crimes enacted. It also wished to increase linguistically relevant public tutoring programs and provide guidance on the best methods to reduce racially discerning language to describe the pandemic.
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives passed the bill in question with a vote post of 364-62. The Senate had passed the bill last month with 94-1. The opposition votes were from the Republican representatives. Republican Senator of Missouri Josh Hawley, who had protested against the previous year’s election results after the attack on the Capitol, was the only senator to have voted against it.
On Thursday morning, Biden tweeted that hate had no room in America and quickly vowed to sign the law.
The report made by Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate stated that a national coalition undertaking anti-Asian racialism had taken place. It has had over 6000 hate crimes against the AAPI community since the beginning of the pandemic.
Increase in crime hate due to racial hate
The latest report from the Californian State University in San Bernadino from the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism provided data on the hate crimes committed against Asian Americans. It showed about a 164% rise in the documented crime rates in the first quarter this year compared to the same period last year; right before the beginning of the pandemic.
She said that in her life, she had seen the way how hate could permeate through communities. She had seen that hate could hinder their development and noticed that people coming together against hatred could build up their nation. Also, she said that the bill brought them a step nearer to curb hatred for all Americans, including Asian-Americans.
The Democrats have asserted that the increase in offense against Asian Americans was due to ex-President Donald Trump’s identification of Coronavirus as a Chinese virus. Some lawyers are opinionated regarding the modest actions taken by the bill to furnish law enactment and communities to smartly manage the increase in atrocities against the community of AAPI. On Tuesday, the House Democrats asserted that the law would aid in preventing attacks by improving the documentation of the episodes.
One major reason to pass the Anti-Asian Hate crime bill was due to the shooting of eight people. It included six women of Asian origin at multiple spas present in the Atlantic region in March. The memorialization of these women has been provided in the texts of the bill. The extensive shooting happened after an increased anti-Asian attitude throughout the country.
