China News Agency, Houston, March 19-During the visit of US President Biden and Vice President Harris to Atlanta, the capital of Georgia, they condemned the surge of anti-Asian violence in the United States and demanded that all Americans unite against hatred.
On the 16th, a fatal shooting occurred in Atlanta, killing 8 people, including 6 Asian women.
According to the Associated Press, on the afternoon of the 19th, after Biden and Harris held talks with Asian representatives from Georgia at Emory University in Atlanta, Biden gave a speech saying, "Hate has no safe haven in the United States. This must stop."
Biden said that Americans should unite against hatred and racism.
Biden called on all Americans to come forward when they see these actions. He said: "Our silence is complicit. We cannot be complicit."
Biden said the shooting was "heinously violent." "No matter what the motive was, this case made many Asian Americans feel terrified."
Biden urged the U.S. Congress to quickly pass a hate crime bill related to the new crown virus pandemic, which will speed up the federal government's investigation of related hate crimes.
According to the National Public Radio in the United States, since the new coronavirus pandemic broke out in the United States in March 2020, there has been a surge in attacks against Asian groups.
The Center for Hate and Extremism Research at California State University said that in 2020, anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 major cities in the United States increased by 149% year-on-year. It is related to the repeated use of racist vocabulary when describing the new coronavirus.
On the same day, Biden said in his speech that the shooting showed that words can lead to serious consequences.
Harris is the first female, Asian, and African vice president of the United States.
On the same day, she said in her speech that racism, xenophobia, and sexism "are real in the United States and have always existed." Harris said, "The president and I will not remain silent. We will not stand idly by. No matter what. We will speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination whenever and wherever."
On the 16th, a 21-year-old man from Georgia, Robert Aaron Long, shot and killed many people in three massage parlors in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, including six Asian women.
Law enforcement officials said the suspect suggested that his "sex addiction" was the cause of his violence, but many Asian American representatives believed that the shooting was at least partly triggered by anti-Asian sentiment.
To commemorate the victims, Biden ordered the White House and all federal facilities to fly at half-mast on the 18th.
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