U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (R) deliver remarks after a meeting with Asian-American leaders to discuss "the ongoing attacks and threats against the community", during a stop at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., March 19, 2021. /Reuters
Kamala Harris, the first U.S. Vice President of Asian American descent, said on Friday that Asian Americans have been attacked and scapegoated, in the wake of a deadly shooting rampage in Georgia that left eight people dead including six women of Asian descent.
Speaking at an event at Emory University, Harris said she would speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination.
"Racism is real in America. And it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism, too," she said. "The president and I will not be silent. We will not stand by. We will always speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination, wherever and whenever it occurs."
She added that everyone has "the right to be recognized as an American. Not as the other, not as them. But as us."
The U.S. President Joe Biden, together with Harris, offered solace to Asian Americans and denounced the scourge of racism at times hidden "in plain sight", saying that it was "heart-wrenching" to listen to their stories of the fear among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders amid what he called a "skyrocketing spike" of harassment and violence against them.
Biden also called the shootings an example of a "public health crisis of gun violence in this country," as his administration has come under scrutiny from some in his own party for not moving as swiftly as promised on reforming the nation's gun laws.
Activists have seen a rise of racist attacks. Nearly 3,800 incidents have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a California-based reporting center for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and its partner advocacy groups, since March 2020.
Biden and Harris both implicitly criticized former President Donald Trump, who repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus" in a television interview on the same night as Atlanta shootings
"For the last year we've had people in positions of incredible power scapegoating Asian Americans," said Harris, "people with the biggest pulpits, spreading this kind of hate."
"We've always known words have consequences," Biden said. "It is the 'coronavirus' Full stop."
(With input from Reuters, AP)