The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Senate passes bill to reduce hate crimes against Asian Americans
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass bipartisan legislation intended to curb hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Thursday, an issue that has spiked during the pandemic.
Written in part by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, DConn., the legislation expedites review of hate crimes by the U.S. Department of Justice and bolster reporting mechanisms. It is expected to pass the House and be signed into law by President Joe Biden. Led by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, the bill would be the eighth signed into law by Biden.
The non-profit Stop AAPI Hate released a report saying nearly 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were reported over the course of a year during the pandemic, with verbal harassment and shunning comprising the majority of incidents, followed by physical assault.
Michael Keo, an activist in residence at the University of Connecticut’s Asian and Asian American Studies Institute, helped launch the “I am not a virus” campaign, which has gathered stories of hate incidents and discrimination against Asian American and Pacific Islanders during the pandemic.
Earlier this month, a man in Milford was arrested for a hate crime for allegedly yelling “go back to China” and reversing his car toward another man walking in the street.
Keo said his group heard from other AAPI individuals, including a Waterbury firefighter was verbally harassed at the grocery store for 30 minutes and a Connecticut woman who was denied entry to a local shop, although white males were allowed to enter. Two AAPI people who went to grocery store in West Hartford and Bristol were sprayed with disinfectant while shopping, he said.
“The reality is that every Asian American in our state has had their own personal experience or knows someone with an experience of color-related racism,” said Keo, who is Cambodian American. “That ... sticks with you.”
Former President Donald Trump made headlines last spring by repeatedly calling the coronavirus the “China virus” and the “kung flu” because the coronavirus is believed to have originated in China. Those comments correlated with a rise in antiAsian comments online, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found.
The Senate voted 94 to 1 to pass legislation, with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., casting the lone no vote. Passage came after a more than a week of bipartisan negotiations to amend the original bill. A rare example of the
upper chamber skirting partisan gridlock, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., hailed the Senate’s work as “proof ” the Senate “can work to solve important issues.”
The legislation would establish online reporting systems for hate crimes and provide grants for states to establish and run hate crime hotlines. The bill would train law enforcement on using the National Incident-Based Reporting System on reporting hate crimes and provide support for law enforcement agencies that train officers or establish units to work on hate crimes.
It would also allow judges to require people convicted under federal hate crime laws to undergo community service and education on the communities they harmed. Finally, it would expand public awareness campaigns aimed at raising awareness about hate crimes and their
victims.
“Better hate crime reporting is critical to stopping this scourge,” said Blumenthal, who partnered with Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, to author some of the bill. “Law enforcement lacks the data to implement comprehensive, meaningful solutions. Local reporting systems are woefully underutilized because of systemic problems in identifying and recording hate crimes.”
Keo called the bill a good “first step” but said he and other activists are working to implement Asian American and Pacific Islanders studies in schools.
“Our Push for ethnic studies is about protecting our communities before this happens,” Keo said. “Our histories need to be taught together and not in separate silos.”