Emotional Grace Meng leads Asian-American lawmakers detailing years of ‘screaming out for help’ over discrimination

Members of Congress address Atlanta killings and rise of anti-Asian hate and violence amid Covid-19 crisis

Lawmakers condemned the nation’s history of racism and xenophobia during a House Judiciary subcommittee on the rising tide of hate and violence at Asian Americans, held just two days after the killing of six Asian American women in Atlanta, and urged swift action to address the nation’s long-gestating and largely ignored discrimination.

“Our community is bleeding. We are in pain, and for the last year, we’ve been screaming out for help,” said US Rep Grace Meng.

US Rep Doris Matsui said the rhetoric has been amplified by the “highest levels of government” over the last year, as former president Donald Trump and his allies have invoked “racist slurs like ‘China virus’ to spread xenophobia and cast blame in innocent communities” for the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Meng also fired back at Republican lawmakers using the hearing to issue whataboutism broadsides against the Chinese government and allegations of mishandling the Covid-19 crisis.

Officials “can talk about issues with any other country that you want, but you don’t have to do it by putting a bull’s eye on the back of Asian Americans across this country, on our grandparents, on our kids,” she said in emotional remarks.

“This hearing was to address the hurt and pain in our community and find solutions, and I will not allow you to take our voice away from us,” she said.

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Ms Matsui, whose parents and grandparents were among thousands of people forced from their homes during World War II into internment camps in the US, said recent violence is “all too familiar”, building on the nation’s “legacy of racism, anti-Asian sentiment and insensitivity that seeks to divide our nation.”

She was born in one of those camps.

“Because of my history and background, I know I have a history to speak up,” she said. “This hearing and body will no longer sit in silence while our community suffers from racism and hatred.”

Asian Americans have reported at least 500 attacks within the first two months of 2021, according to Stop AAPI Hate.

The group said it received at least 3,795 complaints since it began tracking abuse against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders since last year.

Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said that the data shows that none are isolated incidents, but happening in every state in the US.

Committee chair Steve Cohen said the number of reported incidents is “likely the tip of the iceberg”.

In a statement, Mr Cohen and Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler said that the “horrific violence” in Georgia is “another reminder of why we need urgently to address the fear gripping the Asian American community, in part stemming from racist incidents related to the coronavirus pandemic.”

US Rep Judy Chu, the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the first Chinese American woman to serve in Congress, said she is “still shocked and heartbroken” about the murder of eight people in Georgia, including six Asian American women, by a gunman who targeted three Asian businesses.

“His targets were no accident,” she said. “What we know is that this day was coming.”

She said she urged her caucus and the committee to hold the hearing “because the Asian American community has reached a crisis point that cannot be ignored.”

“There is nothing we can do that will give them the solace they deserve,” said US Rep Tammy Duckworth. “Nothing we can provide that will even begin to make sense of this senseless tragedy. But what we can say, and should say clearly, unambiguously, is blaming the AAPI community for a public health crisis is racist and wrong.”

Ms Chu called for a “national day to speak out against Asian hate” on 26 March.

Lawmakers have also proposed legislation to create a new role inside the US Department of Justice to review Covid-19 related hate crimes.