Headlines for March 19, 2021

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with local Asian American leaders in Atlanta today in the wake of Tuesday’s mass shooting in which a white man killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent. Harris is the first Asian American and the first woman vice president.

At a congressional hearing Thursday on the rise of anti-Asian violence, California Democratic Congressmember Ted Lieu called for an end to the racist rhetoric used by some politicians since the start of the pandemic, namely former President Trump.

Rep. Ted Lieu: “You can say racist, stupid things if you want. But I’m asking you to, please, stop using racist terms like ‘kung flu’ or ‘Wuhan virus’ or other ethnic identifiers in describing this virus. I am not a virus. And when you say things like that, it hurts the Asian American community.”

Meanwhile, Chip Roy of Texas decided to glorify lynchings at the hearing intended to combat racism and xenophobia.
bq. Rep. Chip Roy: “There’s old sayings in Texas about, you know, find the — all the rope in Texas and get a tall oak tree.”

New York Congressmember Grace Meng responded to Roy’s comments.

Rep. Grace Meng: “Your president and your party and your colleagues can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bull’s-eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids. This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions, and we will not let you take our voice away from us.”

Last week, Congressmember Meng reintroduced her resolution denouncing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination amid the pandemic.

Meanwhile, former President Obama called for “commonsense” gun control laws Wednesday. Biden has yet to raise the issue publicly since the shooting but called on Congress last month to pass new gun control legislation.