Asian-Americans welcome Biden’s first national strategy for their communities’ challenges

Fighting anti-Asian hate and normalising disaggregated data collection and reporting are among the administration’s stated priorities
Announcement comes amid increased attacks against Asian-Americans in recent years

US-China relations

Bochen Hanin Washington

Published: 5:00am, 19 Jan 2023

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Days after a vicious attack on an Asian student in Indiana, Asian-Americans are welcoming the Biden administration’s first national strategy meant to confront the challenges and disparities their communities face.

Dozens of officials and community leaders – including high-profile Asian-Americans like actor Daniel Dae Kim – gathered on Tuesday to formally unveil a strategy led by the White House Initiative on Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. It included action plans from 32 federal agencies.

“Today’s launch of this national strategy is a historic step forward for all [Asian-American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander] communities across the nation,” said Democratic congresswoman Judy Chu of California, chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus in a statement on Tuesday.

Chu thanked the White House Initiative for including the voices of experts and affected communities in its report on “the most pressing” issues.

Fighting anti-Asian hate and normalising disaggregated data collection and reporting are among the administration’s stated priorities, as is promoting better language access and AANHPI representation in senior leadership roles in the federal government.

In addition to stating their goals for the next two years, the agencies outlined some of their ongoing work pertaining to the communities.

The Justice Department, which had come under fire for disproportionately targeting Asians in its programme addressing economic espionage from China, said it would improve data collection to tackle disparate access to its programmes and services.

The State Department noted that in August 2021 it released a messaging and nomenclature guide to American diplomats to clarify that US criticism of the Chinese government was not directed towards Chinese nationals, the Chinese diaspora or Chinese-Americans.

Activists, experts and lawmakers have pointed to political rhetoric from public officials as a catalyst for increased attacks against Asian-Americans in recent years, particularly that of former President Donald Trump, who uttered terms like “kung flu” and “Chinese virus” to refer to the coronavirus.

On January 11, an 18-year-old Asian Indiana University student was stabbed in the head several times while waiting for a bus in what officials described as a “racially motivated incident”.

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Christine Chen, executive director of the Washington-based non-profit APIAVote, welcomed the strategy unveiling.

“We at APIAVote are especially encouraged to see that among the important issues covered in the report are the issues of addressing anti-Asian hate, prioritising data disaggregation and promoting language access,” she said in a statement on Tuesday.

The unveiling follows Biden’s executive order in May 2021 establishing the White House Initiative on AANHPI and a 25-member presidential advisory commission that advises on how public, private and non-profit sectors can work together to advance racial equity for the community.

Last week, days after the House of Representatives approved the establishment of a select committee on US-China competition, Asian-Americans pushed top Democrat Hakeem Jeffries to appoint someone from their community to serve as the lead Democrat on the panel.