Statement By Advancing Justice | AAJC on House Resolution 908
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.RES. 908, which condemns all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19, introduced by Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) and co-sponsored by more than 150 members.
John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC releases the following statement in response:
“Bigotry and hate cannot continue. For months Asian Americans have been suffering increased racist attacks as a result of the onslaught of COVID-19, the novel Coronavirus. Surveys show that Asian American adults have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the COVID-19 pandemic and a majority say it is more common for people to express racist or racially insensitive views about people who are Asian than it was before the COVID-19 outbreak. This means we are on a dangerous path where this behavior is becoming normalized and we must put a stop to it now.
We commend Rep. Grace Meng, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and the members who co-sponsored this resolution for speaking out against harmful political rhetoric and doing their part to reduce the discrimination and aggression our communities are facing on top of a global pandemic.
We appreciate their support in asking the U.S. to commit to prioritizing language access and inclusivity in communication practices and to combat the increase in misinformation and discrimination that puts Asian Americans at risk for more xenophobic attacks.
Overcoming this global pandemic is challenging enough without the constant threat of unprovoked attacks on our community. We must all work together through this public health crisis and support the Asian American and other hard-hit communities by the Coronavirus.”