CONTACT: Kevin Hirano | media@apiavote.org | 202-223-9170

APIAVote Applauds White House Announcement of Additional Actions to Combat Anti-Asian Violence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, APIAVote Executive Director Christine Chen issued the following statement in response to the White House’s announcement of additional actions President Joe Biden is taking to combat anti-Asian violence, xenophobia and bias. This announcement follows the March 19 meeting in Atlanta between President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders in the Asian American community, calling for emergency safety and relief to Asian American communities. It also comes on the heels of a successful National Day of Action and Healing on Friday, March 26th. The day of action activated thousands of AAPI groups, and the tremendous support of Asian community allies, corporations, elected officials and business leaders from across sectors resulting in the hashtag #StopAsianHate reaching 1.1 billion online.

“We are encouraged by the White House’s announcement of the additional actions it will take to advance safety, inclusion, and belonging for all AAPI communities. This is a solid start to addressing our concerns and issues.

However, there is still much more that needs to be done to dismantle the conditions that have made AAPIs invisible. We look forward to the White House working with Congress to pass Rep. Grace Meng’s COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and Rep. Don Beyer’s Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act. These important bills address 72% of Asian voters’ belief that there is a lot and some discrimination against Asian people in our society today, according to the the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey we released in partnership with  Advancing Justice- AAJC and AAPI Data.

During the 2020 Elections, despite fear of infection and threat to personal safety, AAPIs over-performed than any other group and voted in record numbers.  We were the margin of victory in critical races like Georgia and Arizona. We will continue to vote and make our voices heard. This announcement is a promising sign.”

The White House announcements include:

• Reinstating and reinvigorating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with initial focus on anti-Asian bias and violence: Removing language access barriers to hate crime information.
• Funding for AAPI survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault
• Establishing a COVID-19 Equity Task Force committee on addressing and ending xenophobia against Asian Americans
• Establishment of a Department of Justice cross-agency initiative to address anti-Asian violence that includes removing language access barriers to hate crimes information to Community resources and outreach.
• Launching a new virtual bookshelf of federally-funded projects that explore and celebrate Asian Americans’ contributions to the United States:
• Funding critical research to prevent and address bias and xenophobia against Asian American communities.

For details on the actions, refer to the White House FACT SHEET at https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-additional-actions-to-respond-to-anti-asian-violence-xenophobia-and-bias/.

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Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) was founded in 2007 with a vision to increase civic engagement among Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). As a national, nonpartisan organization, APIAVote’s mission is to work with local and state community based organizations (CBOs) to mobilize AAPIs in electoral and civic participation.