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Biden visits Atlanta, condemns violence against Asian-Americans
ATLANTA, March 20, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – US President Joe Biden on Friday
denounced the upsurge of violence against Asian-Americans, telling a
community plunged into grief after this week’s Atlanta murders that the
nation must not be complicit in the face of racism and xenophobia.
After meeting with leaders of Georgia’s Asian-American community, Biden
delivered a brief speech at Atlanta’s Emory University, where he branded hate
and racism “the ugly poison that’s long haunted our nation.”
Such bigotry and violence has been “often met with silence” in the United
States, he said.
“But that has to change because our silence is complicity. We cannot be
complicit,” Biden stressed.
“We have to speak out, we have to act,” he added, as he called on
Americans to “combat this resurgence of xenophobia.”
And he leveled a rebuke of previous president Donald Trump without
mentioning his name, saying: “Words have consequences. It’s the coronavirus,
full stop.”
Trump faced severe blowback last year for repeatedly calling Covid-19 —
which has now killed 540,000 people in the United States — the “China virus”
after the country where it was first detected.
Biden noted that attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been
“skyrocketing,” a trend confirmed by the group Stop AAPI Hate which says
nearly 3,800 cases have been reported since last year, including verbal and
physical assaults, discrimination and civil rights abuses.
Biden’s pre-scheduled trip to the southern metropolis was originally
intended to focus on his Covid-19 battle plan.
The president began with a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, where he received a briefing, and he also marked a key milestone
in the US having administered 100 million vaccine doses.
“We did it in about 60 days,” Biden said. “We’re not stopping now.”
But this week’s carnage around Georgia’s largest city prompted Biden,
accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, to add a meeting with Asian-
Americans.
– ‘Heart-wrenching’ –
Three massage parlors around Atlanta were targeted Tuesday, and a 21-year-
old suspect was arrested.
Robert Aaron Long faces eight counts of murder and one charge of
aggravated assault.
Of the eight fatalities, six were women of Asian descent.
Biden said it was “heart-wrenching” to listen to the grieving community
members.
Among them was Stephanie Cho, executive director of Asian Americans
Advancing Justice-Atlanta.
“It was very emotional to hear” messages by the victims’ families read
aloud to the president and vice president, Cho told CNN afterwards.
She said the Asian-American women in the room, including Harris whose
mother was an Indian immigrant, “had a very somber moment” considering the
issue centered around violence against women of Asian descent.
Long has admitted carrying out the attacks, according to law enforcement,
but claims he was not motivated by racial hatred.
Officers said Long told police he was grappling with a sexual addiction
and that he wanted to “eliminate” a temptation that put him in conflict with
his strict religious beliefs.
Authorities have not confirmed the motive, but the killings were seen as
laying bare the intersection of sexism and racism in the United States.
– ‘Single mother’ –
The four women killed in Atlanta itself — at two neighboring spas — were
named Friday by the Fulton County medical examiner’s office as Hyun J. Grant,
51; Soon C. Park, 74; Yong A. Yue, 63; and Suncha Kim, 69.
Grant, who worked at the Gold Spa, left behind two sons — the eldest of
whom, Randy Park, 23, set up a fundraising page which by Friday had attracted
more than $1.9 million in donations.
“She was a single mother who dedicated her whole life to providing for my
brother and I,” Park wrote. “Losing her has put a new lens on my eyes on the
amount of hate that exists in our world.”
The other four victims — targeted at Young’s Asian Massage in the Atlanta
suburb of Acworth — included Xiaojie Tan, the spa’s 49-year-old owner
described as “the sweetest, kindest, most giving person” by a longtime
customer, Greg Hynson, speaking to The New York Times.
The attack also claimed the lives of Delaina Yaun, 33 — a mother of two
who was at the spa for a couple’s massage with her husband — as well as 44-
year-old employee Daoyou Feng, and Paul Andre Michels, 54, who was on site
doing maintenance.
Biden ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and other
public buildings until Monday as a mark of respect for the Atlanta victims.
The House of Representatives held a moment of silence Friday.
Also in Washington, an extraordinary House hearing Thursday heard
testimony from four Asian-American congresswomen.
Democrat Grace Meng warned that Republican rhetoric that paints Asians as
responsible for the virus has put “a bull’s eye on the back of Asian-
Americans.”
Vigils have been held in several US cities, and police in New York,
Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere stepped up patrols in areas
with large Asian-American populations.
Georgia is home to nearly 500,000 people of Asian origin, or just over
four percent of its population.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0808 hrs