‘Our silence is complicity’: Biden meets Asian-Americans, calls for unity after Atlanta shootings
- US president also urges Congress to pass legislation to tackle hate crimes, saying ‘ugly poison’ of racism has ‘long haunted and plagued our nation’
- He met community organisers and state officials with Vice-President Kamala Harris, describing their remarks as ‘heart-wrenching’
The “ugly poison” of racism has “long haunted and plagued our nation,” Biden said in a public address, urging those who witness hate towards and violence against Asian-Americans to speak up.
“Our silence is complicity,” Biden said. “We cannot be complicit. We have to speak out. We have to act.”
An original plan to host a political event in Georgia about the pandemic recovery was scrapped out of respect for the victims of Tuesday’s shootings, while Biden also ordered all federal and military buildings to fly the US flag at half-staff.
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Democratic lawmaker accuses Republican of putting a ‘bullseye’ on the backs of Asian-Americans
Biden on Friday endorsed pending legislation that would designate a point person in the Justice Department to expedite investigations into hate crimes related to Covid-19. Introduced by Grace Meng, Democrat of New York, the Covid-19 Hate Crime Act also includes provisions around public education campaigns and would establish online hate crime reporting portals in multiple languages.