United States Vice President Kamala Harris denounced the existence of racism, xenophobia and sexism in the country on a visit to Atlanta this Friday, days after the attacks on Asian massage parlors that killed eight, including six women from that variety. .
“Racism is real, in the United States, and always has been. Xenophobia is real, in the United States, and it always has been. president. ., Joe Biden, on the visit to Atlanta.
The two met with officials and leaders of the Asian community in that southern city.
In the ensuing appearance, the vice president cited several instances of discrimination against Asians in American history, such as laws prohibiting Chinese workers who built the railroad network in the 1860s from acquiring property.
Also the forced internment of 120,000 people of Japanese descent during the Second World War. “A clear and absolute abuse of their civil and human rights,” noted the vice president.
Harris said the Asian community has become the target and scapegoat over the past year: “People in the biggest stages are spreading this kind of hatred.”
A MISOGINE AND RACIST CRIME
Biden and Harris’s trip to Atlanta was planned before Tuesday’s attacks, but its significance, originally intended as a propaganda speaker for the rescue plan, changed radically with the killings.
Early news of what happened on Tuesday quickly linked him to the spate of hate crimes against people of Asian descent, but the suspect later admitted to authorities that he was the target of three Asian massage salons for ‘blaming’ them for offering a way to his addiction to sex and wanted to “eliminate temptation”.
Despite that admission, political leaders and the media have almost tiptoed through the issue of gender violence, and Biden’s words in Atlanta were no exception, as he also focused on racism.
Biden said “the motivation” for the Atlanta attacker is still unclear, but noted that “hate has no refuge in the United States.” “It’s up to all of us to stop it.”
The president immediately recalled that violence against Asian Americans has skyrocketed since the pandemic began: “They have been attacked, accused, scapegoated and harassed” and also “murdered.”
“Words have consequences. This is (because they are blamed for) the coronavirus, period,” the president said, without directly referring to his predecessor, Donald Trump, who used to call covid-19 “the virus of China.”
“Hatred and violence are often hidden in plain sight. They are often met with silence, but that must change because our silence is complicity. We cannot be complicit, we must act,” he stressed.
BEYOND THE ATTACKS
Biden didn’t want the attacks to completely monopolize his trip to Atlanta, and after denouncing violence against Asians, he turned to the original reason for the visit: spreading the benefits of the $ 1.9 billion bailout in light of economic devastation. derived from the pandemic.
Among them are the $ 1,400 direct payments that went into effect this week and substantial assistance for every underage child.
In fact, Biden and Harris’s first stop in Atlanta was at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency that, as the name suggests, is responsible for controlling and preventing the coronavirus. diseases.
“While this is a time for optimism, this is not a time to relax,” Biden said, urging all Americans to get vaccinated when they have the chance, warning that “things could get worse as they go. new variants of the virus are spreading. Virus “.
However, Biden and Harris had to settle for a modest television appearance as initial plans to hold a rally in the aftermath of the attacks were canceled.