Biden announces gun control initiative during visit to Monterey Park

President Biden visited Monterey Park to announce an executive order for gun enforcement.

President Biden used his visit with the victims' families of the Monterey Park mass shooting to announce his latest executive order for gun control which  "will accelerate and intensify this work to save more lives more quickly."

Biden was in Monterey Park to console the shooting victims and the families who lost loved ones two months ago when 72-year old Huu Can Tran fatally shot 11 elders and wounded nine others who were celebrating Lunar New Year at a local dance studio last January.

He called the shooting “a tragedy that has pierced the soul of this nation” and that struck “the heart of the Asian American community.”

Monterey Park is located east of Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley, home to more than half a million Asian Americans. Nine cities in the valley have Asian American  majorities.

WHITE HOUSE

President Biden once again introduced hero Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman.

Biden used the visit to announce his executive order that calls on Attorney General Merrick Garland to shore up the already existing rules for federally licensed gun dealers so they know they are required to do background checks as part of the license.

"I continue to call on Congress to require background checks for all firearm sales," Biden continued. "My executive order directs my Attorney General to take every lawful action possible — possible to move us as close as we can to universal background checks without new legislation.

"It’s just common sense to check whether someone is a felon, a domestic abuser, before they buy a gun."

The executive order also expands public awareness campaigns about the “red flag” orders that "parents, teachers, police officers, health providers, and counselors know how to flag" individuals  exhibiting violent tendencies, threatening classmates, or experiencing suicidal thoughts that make them a danger to themselves and others and temporarily remove that person’s access to firearms.

The President also said, "The executive order ramps up our efforts to hold the gun industry accountable. It’s the only outfit you can’t sue these days. It does that by calling out for an independent government study that analyzes and exposes how gun manufacturers aggressively market firearms to civilians, especially minors, including by using military imagery.

The order will also make firearms dealers more accountable and illegal gun dealers and also create a FEMA-like quick response to help victims of mass shootings with financial assistance and mental health care.

WHITE HOUSE

Part of the crowd who met with President Biden during his visit to Monterey Park.

The executive order is meant to only be the first step for Biden. He is also proposing legislation that will  ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. (Applause.) I led that fight in — to ban them in 1994. In the 10 years that law was in place, mass shootings went down.

"After three years of trauma that so many of us are living with day in and day out, it's critical that we have the conversation around gun safety given what has happened," Manjusha Kulkarni, the executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance and a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, was quoted as saying by the report.

Kulkarni said in the report that around 3,000 Asian Americans are impacted by gun violence every year, with women and elderly people in the AAPI community having disproportionately experienced verbal harassment, racism, discrimination, and sometimes physical attacks.

The Asian American community needs "elected officials to rise to the challenge, and pass legislation to keep all of our communities in California and throughout the U.S. safe," she said.

"The data is clear: gun safety laws save lives," tweeted California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Filipino American. 

"We have a moral and ethical obligation to enact them. I stand with the President as he takes this necessary step toward addressing the gun violence crisis," said Bonta, who greeted Biden in Monterey Park.

Hundreds of people waited in the rain to get a glimpse of the Presidential motorcade as it drove through the city to the Boys and Girls Club where Biden met with Monterey Park residents and officials and delivered his speech.

"It takes time. I tell everyone ... it takes time," Biden said in closing. "But I promise you — I promise you the day will come when the memory of your loved one brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. The tear will never fully go away. But when you had that smile first ... that’s when you know — that’s when you know you’re going to make it — you’re going to know you’re going to make it."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Stop AAPI Hate:11,500 anti-Asian incidents over a span of two years; no signs of a slowdown of attacks

Two years of being the target of hate has done little to slow the attacks aginst Asian Americans. According to a new report, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 11,500 hate incidents reported to Stop AAPI Hate.

Stop AAPI Hate released a new report, Two Years and Thousands of Voices, which provides deeper insight into the racism and discrimination the AAPI community has faced since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“Our self-reported data shows that if you’re only watching the news, you aren’t getting the full picture of what AAPIs are experiencing,” said Russell Jeung, Ph.D., co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. “AAPIs are verbally harassed in grocery stores and shops, on the street and on public transit. We have a right to be treated with dignity and respect.”

The incidents of hate which coincided with the start of pandemic increased as officials in the Trump administration used ethnic slurs to link the coronavirus with China. Historians and social scientists point out the anti-Asian hate has been part and parcel of American history but in recent years the bias appeared to die down because of the growing awareness and the social stigmas associated with racism and discrimination.

The pandemic and the Trump administration lifted the lid on the tamped-down bias and emboldened racist to unleash the anti-Asian sentiment.

The report released Wednesday (July 20) looks at the nearly 11,500 hate incidents reported to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022, and includes findings from a 2021 national survey Stop AAPI Hate conducted in partnership with Edelman Data & Intelligence.

"Key findings of Two Years and Thousands of Voices" include:

• Non-criminal incidents comprise the vast majority of the harmful hate incidents that AAPI community members experience.

• Harassment is a major problem. Two in three (67%) of nearly 11,500 incidents involved harassment, such as verbal or written hate speech or inappropriate gestures.

• AAPI individuals who are also female, non-binary, LGBTQIA+, and/or elderly experience hate incidents that target them for more than one of their identities at once.

• One in three (32%) parents who participated in the Stop AAPI Hate/Edelman Data & Intelligence survey were concerned about their child being a victim of anti-AAPI hate or discrimination in unsupervised spaces and on the way to school.

• Hate happens everywhere — in both large cities and small towns, in AAPI enclaves and in places where AAPI communities are few and far between.

The more serous incidents resulted in physical attacks that caused the death of someone such as the mass shooting at Asian spas in the Atlanta area, the vicious attacks against elderly AAPI that knock them unconscious; or crimes resulting in robbery or assault but not legally called a hate crime but seen as crimes of opportunity.

However, most of the reported incidents were in the form of harassment, such as a report from Marin County, California:

“I was emptying my trash into a public trash can at a rest stop and a man walked towards me asked me where my mask was, shoved me back and said if anyone should be wearing a mask it is people like you. He mocked by pulling his eyes back to resemble slant eye and bowed to me.” 

Incidents that witnesses might shrug off have traumatic impacts on the victim such as a Connecticut report: “I walked into a discount store where I saw a woman conversing with another person; when she got in line at a register to purchase her food, she was stopped and the person working the register called her slurs, then a virus, and then refused to check her out.” 

Recommendations

The report also lays out Stop AAPI Hate’s approach to addressing anti-AAPI hate: education equity, community-driven safety solutions and civil rights expansion.

“Even as people move on past the COVID-19 pandemic, AAPIs continue to be harassed because of their race,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “The AAPI community is tired of being afraid. We want solutions that actually make a difference and focus on prevention.”

“While our focus is understanding hate against AAPI’s, we know that hate is on the rise for many groups including the Black, Latinix, Muslim, LGBTQ+ communities,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action. “It is why we need to work together to address root causes of racism and prevent incidents before they happen.”

Stop AAPI Hate is calling on elected officials to further their efforts to: 

• Stop the harassment of AAPIs and protect our civil rights by introducing legislation like No Place for Hate California, which will address hate where it happens: in spaces open and accessible to the public;

• Educate the public about AAPI histories and cultures by making ethnic studies a standard part of the K-12 curriculum; and invest in community-based programs to support the healing of victims and survivors, and to prevent violence before it starts.

• Hate incidents included in the report point to the prevalence of harassment, and the need for elected officials to take action. Incidents have been edited for grammar, length and clarity:

The Stop AAPI Hate coalition encourages any member of the AAPI community who has experienced hate during the pandemic to report the incident at: https://stopaapihate.org/reportincident/.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Stop AAPI Hate co-founders make Time magazine's most influential people

Of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world are 26 Asian or Asian American..

Asian Americans' influence and impact was unmistakeable with poet  Cathy Park Hong gracing one of seven magazine covers.that will be released worldwide.

Because of the surge in anti-Asian attacks, TIME includes the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate: Cynthia Choi, Manjusha Kulkarni and Russell Jeung.The community based organization's collection of racist incidents made media and government to realize the enormity and how prevalent the attacks have become. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Stop AAPI Hate reports that over 9000 hate incidents were reported.

For TIME's full list of the 100 most influential people, click here.

“It is a great honor to be recognized for this award among this list of influential leaders,“ said Kulkarni. “This work would not be possible without the bravery and strength of our respondents and the AAPI community at large, and we want to thank them for their willingness to speak out against injustice."

Vice President Kamala Harris, China's President Xi Jinping, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other world leaders were repeats  on the prestigious list.  

But it was a first-time honor to be included on the list. Among them were athletes the Angels' Shohei Ohtani, tennis player Naomi Osaka and Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee, Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao, Saturday Night Live's Bown Yang, actor Steven Yeun, along with other innovators, authors, researchers and activists.

Besides the 26 Asians and Asian Americans on the list, the 18th annual list of influential people includes 10 climate leaders, dozens of advocates, political leaders, 54 women and the youngest featured in the issues is 18-year-old Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee. The oldest person in this year's list is 78-year-old President Joe Biden.

“At TIME, we see the TIME100 as far more than a list,” Edward Felsenthal, said TIME's CEO and editor in chief. “It is a community of leaders whose energy and commitment we hope inspires others to spring into action as well.”

The full list and related tributes appear in the Sept. 27 / Oct. 4 issue of TIME, available on newsstands on Friday, Sept. 17.

ABC will air a special about the selection of the Top 100 on Sept. 20, 10 p.m. The special offers an inside look at the pioneers, artists, leaders, icons, titans and innovators comprising the coveted 2021 list, along with special performances and surprises. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For more commentary, observations, tips and references, follow me on Twitter @dioknoed

Report: Hate attacks against all AAPI communities skyrockets in 2020

SCREEN CAPTURE / KGO-TV

A little girl took part in a San Francisco rally against hate.

Recent attacks against Asian American elders have raised awareness about the most recent surge of racist acts directed at AAPI but a recent report says they represent just a tiny portion of the assaults. 

Attacks against the elderly represent only 7.3% of the hate acts reported to Stop AAPI Hate, the nation’s leading coalition documenting and addressing anti-Asian hate and discrimination. As the Stop AAPI Hate report shows, since March when it began collecting the reports to the end of 2020, almost 3,000 incidents of hate have been reported.

“We are outraged by the disturbing incidents we’ve seen this past week where Asian American elders have been attacked in the San Francisco Bay Area," said the founders of Stop AAPI Hate -- Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council; Cynthia Choi, co-executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action; and Russell Jeung, Ph.D., professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University.

Stop AAPI Hate is a national coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian discrimination amid the pandemic, was founded by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) and San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies Department.

"These violent assaults have a devastating impact on our community as they are part of an alarming rise in anti-Asian American hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"These recent incidents are stark reminders that urgent action must be taken to protect our AAPI community from hate, discrimination and violence. It is up to all of us — businesses, the government, and community partners — to come together and immediately support victims and families affected by these incidents, and work together to create long-lasting solutions that empower our communities with resources, support and education.” 

The data released Feb. 9 was in response to the attacks on Asian American elderly in San Francisco and New York. Just this weekend, there was another report of an elderly Filipino American woman on a bus being punched for no apparent reason, according to witnesses. She was treated at a hospital and released. No arrest has been made. 

According to Stop AAPI Hate: 

● Between March 19, 2020 (when Stop AAPI Hate began collecting reports) and December 31, 2020, Stop AAPI Hate received over 2,808 firsthand accounts of anti-Asian hate from 47 states and the District of Columbia 

● Between March 19, 2020 and December 31, 2020, Stop AAPI Hate received 126 accounts of anti-Asian hate involving Asian Americans over 60 years old (7.3% of total incidents) 

Stop AAPI Hate Incident Data National Incidents & Trends 

● Between March 19 and December 31, 2020, Stop AAPI Hate has received 2,808 reported incidents of racism and discrimination targeting Asian Americans across the U.S. 

● Physical assaults made up 8.7% of incidents; coughing/spitting comprised 6.4%. 

● Verbal harassment made up 70.9% of incidents; shunning or avoidance comprised 21.4% 

● Hate incidents without an underlying criminal element can violate civil rights, traumatize impacted individuals, and isolate youth 

● Clear civil rights violations — workplace discrimination, refusal of service from establishments, transit or ride-shares — make up 8% of the incidents 

● Businesses were the top site of discrimination incidents, making up 38.1% of locations of discrimination 

● Race was cited as the primary reason for discrimination, making up 90.3% of incidents 

● Vulnerable populations are attacked. Youth under 20 years old make up 13.6% of cases and elderly over 60 years old comprise 7.3% 

● Women are attacked almost 2 1/2 times more than men 

● Chinese made up the ethnic group most often targeted, making up 40.7% of incidents. Asian Americans as a whole, though, are being racially profiled and attacked. Koreans (15.1%); Vietnamese (8.2%) and Filipinos (7.2%) have also faced COVID-19 discrimination in high numbers 

● States with high Asian American populations report the most incidents. CA (43.8%); NY (13.0%); WA (4.1%); and IL (2.8%) have the highest rates Elderly Incidents & Trends 

● Nationally, Elderly Asian Americans (60+ years old) were involved in 7.3% of Stop AAPI Hate’s 2,808 self-reported incidents. That accounts for 126 cases between March 19 and December 31, 2020. 

● Elderly report being physically assaulted (13.5%) more than the Asian American population overall (8.7%) 

● Verbal harassment (67.5%) and shunning (15.1%) make up the highest types of discrimination against elderly 

● Elderly report more clear civil rights violations (12.8%) — workplace discrimination, being barred from establishments or ride-shares — than the overall AAPI population (8.0%) 

● Elderly women are attacked 1.5 times more than elderly men ○ States with high Asian American populations report the most incidents, with CA (56.4%); NY (7.9%); WA (7.9%); and NV (5.6%) have the highest rates of elderly abuse 

● In the San Francisco Bay Area, 8.2% involved Elderly Asian Americans (35 cases) 

Firsthand Accounts from Asian American Elders 

● I am posting this on behalf of my dad, a 71-year old Korean adoptee. Yesterday, he was chased out of a rural convenience store after asking to use the restroom while traveling along I-5 through California to get to Portland, Oregon. (71 y.o, Northern CA) Coughed/Spat Upon 

● I was waiting to enter [a pharmacy] to get my prescription when a group of construction workers (not social distancing) made fun of me by mocking me, fake coughing, spitting at me and making slant eyes gestures until I asked them to stop. No one else called these people out. (68 y.o, Oakland, CA) 

● I was waiting to cross the street when I felt something on my head and it turned out to be spit all over my hair and the back of my coat. I was repeatedly spit on by a big white guy. (67 y.o., New York, NY) Physical Assault 

● I was standing in an aisle at [a hardware store] when suddenly I was struck from behind. Video surveillance verified the incident in which a white male used his bent elbow to strike my upper back. Subsequent verbal attacks occurred with "Shut up, you Monkey!, "F**k you Chinaman," "Go back to China" and "Stop bringing that Chinese virus over here.” (67 y.o., San Francisco, CA) 

● As I was leaving a restaurant, a white male stormed up to me and verbally harassed and terrorized me. He screamed, "return to China you f***ing Asian" and other hateful, racial slurs, threatening me physically. This went on for several minutes as I departed the scene quickly to call police. A clear case of racial hatred towards me. I called the police who arrived quickly to apprehend him. I gave a verbal account to another officer who arrived later. I have not heard back from anyone. (67 y.o., Alamo, CA) 

● My wife and I were taking a walk, minding our own business when two dogs tried to attack us. When the woman owner came to us she said, "the reason the dogs are afraid of you is because you eat dogs!” Then the woman said, "you need to go back from where you came from.” We were shocked to hear this. I told her I was born in the U.S., but she did not care nor apologize for her dog’s behavior. I took a picture of her vehicle license plate and reported her to the local police and County Animal Control who are investigating. (67 y.o., Sammami, WA) 

● I was called a “yellow motherf***er” by a stranger in an elevator and told to “go back where I came from.” After exiting the elevator, the stranger picked me up by my shoulders & threw me against the elevator bank. (67 y.o., Honolulu, HI) Verbal Harassment 

● On my daily walk in my hometown Sausalito, I was wearing a face mask when a white woman yelled at me, "I hate Chinese people! Why do they come to this country?!" when she passed me. I was stunned by her words which caused me to fear and be more alert of my surroundings. (71 y.o., Sausalito, CA) 

● My husband and I (both in our 60s) were walking home after grocery shopping and three to four people in a car shouted "Virus, go to hell!" to us while they drove by. (68 y.o., Montclair, CA) 

Sunday Read: Attacks against Asian Americans continue to rise, near 2000 incidents, says report

As of mid-May the number of attacks, harassment and abuse aimed at Asian Americans is approaching 2000 in the two months since a record of those incidents started being tracked.

While most of the incidents appear to be random spontaneous acts of hate, a few. of them, including the stabbing attacks against a Burmese American father and his two young children, were premeditated.

EXAMPLE #1: 

In multiple incidents, an elderly woman spitting out racial slurs at Asian Americans in a park in Torrance, Calif. resulted in a counterdemonstration when scores of AAPI made an appearance at the park to exercise.

Police identified the woman as Lena Hernandez, 56, last week and spoke to her Wednesday, but no arrests were made despite the videos of her tirades were viewed over a million times resulting in a public outcry.

"Based on the fact all three incidents are misdemeanor crimes and did not occur in the presence of an officer, Hernandez was not arrested at the time of the interview," police said. "The details of the interview will be submitted to the City of Torrance Prosecutors office."

Maintaining social distancing, scores of AAPI went to the Torrance Park to exercise.

Stop AAPI Hate, the leading aggregator of incidents against Asian Americans during the pandemic, has compiled a new report examining the rise in hate incidents against Asian Americans and the anti-Chinese rhetoric by political leaders. 

“We have seen time and again how dangerous it is when leaders scapegoat for political gain and use inflammatory rhetoric to stir up both interpersonal violence and racist policies. As we’ve seen throughout American history — from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to Japanese American wartime incarceration and most recently, immigration bans—Asians have been targeted with such vehement hate.” said Dr. Russell Jeung, chair of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. 

Last week, Stop AAPI Hate reported that as of May 13, incidents of anti-Asian American discrimination documented across the U.S. approached 1,900 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Of those incidents, approximately 502 incidents specifically mentioned the terms “China” or “Chinese” during the incidents of discrimination. 

According to the report, it appears that there was a spike of incidents reported to the website after Donald Trump, after a respite of several weeks, has returned to using the incorrect term, “Chinese Virus” when referring to Covid-19 inflaming his followers.

Last Saturday at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump revived the term along with "Kung-Flu," is his speech in front of his cheering supporters.

There are a number of variables that could explain this correlation; nonetheless, Stop AAPI Hate contends that Trump's and the GOP’s anti-Chinese rhetoric have entrenched racism and xenophobia in the public’s perception of the coronavirus pandemic.

EXAMPLE #2: 

A man painting "Black Lives Matter" on his front retaining wall in San Francisco was approached by a white couple jogging by assumed that the Filipino American was  defacing someone else's hose in the upscale neighborhood. 

As it turns out, the man has been living at the address for 18 years, videotaped the "polite racism." Police responded to the white couple's 911 call and recognized the Filipino American as the legal resident, waved and left without any further incident.

Although the white couple later apologized after the video went viral.

A white woman cals 911 against a Filiipino American resident in a posh San Francisco neighborhood.

Recent news reports have drawn the conclusion that Trump and other political leaders are stirring up anti-Chinese sentiment as a means to distract from both their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide protests against deeply entrenched racism and violence against Black Americans in law enforcement. 

“We condemn the racist, inciteful and violent rhetoric coming from the president and political leaders at the very top, who racialize tragedies to score political points and distract from their own mishandling of the pandemic," said Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director, Chinese for Affirmative Action.  

"This rhetoric continues to devastate and harm communities of color in America.” 

In turn, the president is currently pouring money into campaign ads against China. On April 17, the GOP sent a memo to campaigns stating that: 

1. China caused the virus by covering it up, 
2. Democrats are “soft on China”, and 
3. Republicans will push for sanctions on China for its role in spreading the virus. 

Other government leaders are picking up Trump’s racist language—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) have used similar language. 

Senator Martha McSally, up for re-election, recently said, “China is to blame for this pandemic and the death of thousands of Americans.” 

Most significantly, last month the president introduced a ban limiting Chinese students in the United States, raising concerns from a number of Asian American leaders. 

In its report on the 502 incidents of discrimination and harassment with a clear link to anti-Chinese sentiment, Stop AAPI Hate noted that the following trends emerged: 

• Virulent animosity towards Chinese, with 37.5% of these cases laced with profanity and verbal taunts 
• Scapegoating of China for the spread of Covid-19, with 31.7% of the perpetrators blaming China or Chinese people as the source of the disease 
• Anti-immigrant nationalism of the assailants as they demand that Asian Americans “go back to China” or view China as the enemy (20.3%) 
• Parroting of the term, “Chinese virus” to imply the implicit association between Covid-19 and China (17.5%) 
• Orientalist and racist depictions of China and Chinese people as dirty, diseased, and holding strange dietary habits (12.6%) 

Trump "continues to utilize white supremacist and nationalist views as a means of scapegoating his failures for political gain," said Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director of Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. 

"Unless we hold him accountable, the discrimination and harassment against Asian Americans will become deeply entrenched, cause unimaginable harm and suffering, and take decades to unwind.”