Sacramento leaders applaud President Biden’s order condemning anti-Asian bias and racism

Sacramento politicians and community leaders applauded President Joe Biden’s directive condemning growing anti-Asian rhetoric and hate crimes that have risen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden signed the memorandum Tuesday as part of a group of executive orders, memorandums and actions focused on racial justice and equity. The directive also issues some guidance on how the Justice Department should respond to the heightened number of anti-Asian bias incidents.

“I was quite heartened that our president … has recognized the hate and racism directed toward our community,” said state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento. “That doesn’t come too often, that the unique struggles our community faces actually gets particularly recognized.”

“We must continue to be unequivocable in stating that this virus does not belong to any one nationality or race, but has affected every country across the world,” said Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, in a statement. “The first step to healing our divided nation and building towards a more just and equal future is to recognize and condemn racism and discrimination at every level of society. The next step is to ensure civil rights protections under the law for all Americans, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders.”

The order asks the Department of Health and Human Services to coordinate with the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to distribute COVID-19 information that is culturally sensitive, respectful and in-language in its federal response. It also commands the U.S. attorney general to work with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities on better data collection and ways to report anti-Asian hate crimes.

“The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,” Biden’s directive states. “These actions defied the best practices and guidelines of public health officials and have caused significant harm to AAPI families and communities that must be addressed.”

More than 1,100 incidents of anti-Asian discrimination in California were reported to the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center between March and July last year. There were 2,583 incidents reported nationwide, more than 40% of which came from California.

“AAPI communities are suffering disproportionately due to COVID-19. Our communities face higher rates of hospitalizations (and) deaths,” the Asian Law Caucus of Asian Americans Advancing Justice said on social media. “Many are keeping our country running as frontline essential workers. All this, while being targeted by hate incidents at unprecedented levels. … What we need now is accountability and reckoning.”

The next step, community leaders and representatives said, is for the Biden administration to work directly with the AAPI community to create solutions and find justice for victims of hate incidents who want to pursue a case. Pan also called for Biden to address immigration issues and offer more in-language translations for government services such as healthcare.

“This is a longstanding struggle,” Pan said. “I think that’s the opportunity for us as a community to take him up at his word and reach out to partners in the federal government and look for ways that we can work together … with elected leaders, to lead in both opposing and condemning hate towards AAPI communities, as well as recognizing our contributions more broadly.”