Biden, Harris offer solace to grieving Asian Americans
ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris offered solace to Asian Americans and a reeling nation on Friday as they visited Atlanta just days after a white gunman killed eight people, most of them Asian American women.
The visit, during a nationwide spike of anti-Asian violence, has added resonance with the presence of Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office. And it comes as Biden on Friday expressed support for the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, a bill that would strengthen the government's reporting and response to hate crimes and provide resources to Asian American communities.
“Hate can have no safe harbor in America,” Biden said, calling on Americans to stand up to bigotry when they see it. “Our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit.” Biden said "it was heart wrenching to listen to” Asian American state legislators and other community leaders discuss living in fear of violence during their meeting before he and Harris delivered remarks at Emory University.
“Racism is real in America. And it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America, and always has been. Sexism, too,” said Harris. “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.”
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