White House reveals new initiatives to counter the forces of hate dividing the US

Striking out against white supremacists and extreme conservatives, President Biden hosted the United We Stand Summit Thursday to counter the hate-fueled violence that tears at the United States.

"We need to say clearly and forcefully, white supremacy, all forms of hate... have no place in America," Biden said. "As to those who say, we bring this up, we just divide the country — bring it up, we silence it, instead of remaining silenced. For in silence, wounds deepen."

"The combination of January the 6th, what they saw in Charlottesville: That’s not America, not who we are," Biden continued.

"The idea of America is it guarantees that everyone — everyone is treated with dignity and equality.  An idea that ensures an inclusive, multi-racial democracy.  An idea that we give no safe harbor — none — to hate." 

According to the FBI's 2020 Hate Crime Statistics, the most recent data available, the overall number of hate crimes increased by 949 from 2019. Hate acts against Asians made up 4.4% of the incidents.Of the victims, 62% were targeted because of the offenders' bias toward their race, ethnicity or ancestry, which continues to be the largest bias motivation category.

Stop AAPI Hate, a community-based organization collecting reports since the start of the pandemic in March of 2020, over 11,500 anti-Asian incidents have been reported. 

The White House announced a historic package of new actions the federal government, civic, faith, philanthropic, and business leaders will take to address hate-fueled violence and advance national unity:

The President unveiled new actions by government and nonprofit agencies to strengthen the federal government’s coordination and community engagement to prevent, respond to, and recover from hate-fueled violence.

Among the actions is the White House Initiative on Hate-Motivated Violence established today will strengthen interagency coordination in preventing and responding to hate-motivated violence, leverage federal research and resources, and enhance engagement and consultation with diverse stakeholders, including communities targeted for who they are or what they believe.

In the private sector, high-tech companies -- Twitter, Meta, Youtube, Twitch and Microsoft will institute policies to filter out hateful language or encourage violence.

Among the guests at the White House were victims of hate and "Uniters" doing work in their communities against hate, build bridges, and heal divides. Among the honorees were Valarie Kaur, a civil rights leader, Los Angeles, and middle-schooler Mina Fedor, founder of AAPI Youth Rising from Piedmont, Calif.

Those in attendance included bipartisan and nonpartisan federal, state, local, and Tribal officials, civil rights groups, faith and community leaders, business leaders, law enforcement officials, former members of violent hate groups who now work to prevent violence, and gun violence prevention leaders.

Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the summit. 

"Years from now, our children and our grandchildren, they’re going to us ask, 'What did you do at that moment?”  “What did you do to help protect our communities, to fight hate-fueled violence, and to build a better nation?' 

 
"Well, I have confidence in what we’re going to be able to say.  We will tell them we were all here together today.  And we will tell that, in this moment, we stood united.  We stood firm in our belief that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.  We stood firm in our belief that out of many, we are one."

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AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate Livestream tackles a legacy of hate and what needs to change

From top right, clockwise, taking part in United We Stand's online gathering: Lisa Ling, Michelle Lee and Bing Chen with Malik Pancholy

By Amy-Xiaoshi DePaola

ASAM NEWS

Jeannie Mai remembers this: her aunt’s beat-up car, spray-painted with the racial slur “g*ok.” “I was looking at it like…’huh? What’s that mean?'” she said.
She recalled that her aunt then pushed her aside, proceeded to rub the paint off with a bucket of water and sponge, saying, “Move, I got to get to work.”

Mai was less calmer with injustices in her own life, “getting into fistfights” and expelled from high school.

“I just pushed on through it like my aunt, and it wasn’t healthy for me,” she said. “It made me completely bypass the pain that it caused me… all of this hate built up to a place where I was a side of Jeannie where I’m not proud of today.”

Mai was one of the Asian Americans sharing their personal stories about bullying and hate at Act to Change’s webinar, held on Monday, what would have been Vincent Chin’s 65th birthday.

The 1982 deadly baseball bat beating of Chin “echoes” the rash of xenophobic hate crimes amid COVID-19 today, said Maulik Pancholy, co-founder of the nonprofit hoping to end bullying for all youth.

Act to Change’s event, United We Stand, commemorated the second annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Day Against Bullying and Hate, with a star-studded guest list of Asian American public figures. The non-profit, an offshoot of the White House Initiative on AAPIs during the Obama administration, produced the event with the support of 200 AAPI organizations and groups including AsAmNews.

Celebrities such as Fresh off the Boat‘s Hudson Yang, Queer Eye‘s Tan France, Never Have I Ever‘s Poorna Jagannathan, and other media influencers shared their experiences and offered advice to an audience that reached nearly over 600 at its peak.

“It’s important to speak out” about racism, said Mai, now the co-host of The Real. “Just the thought can turn to hate — and as we’re seeing today — death.”

The topic of COVID-19 related hate crimes hung over the webcast, with the first guest, actor Daniel Dae Kim, describing his reaction as “heartbroken, angry, frustrated.”

Kim was hospitalized in March for coronavirus, declaring himself “100%” better during the livestream. But the anti-Asian — particularly Chinese-centered — vitriol from social media and news reports has been far from cured.

“It was a stark moment to me, that we as Asian Americans have been asked to prove our Americanness,” he said. “We are taken to task about events happening a continent away.”

Event host Pancholy agreed. “We are American enough just by being American.”

But as Asian American celebrities shared their stories, not much has seemed to change. Many — from all generations — spoke about their peers and even adults verbally and physically harassing them, while mocking their language, physical features, and the food they ate — something commonly invoked in false statements that accuse Chinese of spreading the coronavirus by eating bats.

Michelle Lee, Allure Magazine‘s editor-in-chief, expressed particular shock that “the crazy old stereotypes” were back.

The backlash was also a surprise for CNN’s Lisa Ling of This is Life and media entrepreneur Bing Chen, who discussed how Asian American-led productions seemed to be soaring recently, with the climate being “good to Asians.”

“Now, it’s a totally different world,” Ling said. “In an instant, things can change.”

“My hope is that it doesn’t get worse for people like us,” she continued, alluding to this year’s Presidential election.

But racial profiling occurred long before the 2016 election, with actor John Cho retelling a story where his co-star Kal Penn kept getting frisked by airport security during their press tour in 2004 for Harold & Kumar, a movie series starring two Asian American leads, a “socio-political breakthrough.”

“We try to rationalize things over time, and maybe tell ourselves that it wasn’t what it was — but it definitely was,” Penn recalled.

A Harvard study confirmed that memory loss and PTSD are symptoms of trauma — and may be reflective of how Asian Americans are raised.

“I think for Asian communities, for immigrants, there’s a sense that everything’s okay,” said Padma Lakshmi, author and host of Top Chef. “Don’t complain, don’t make waves… just pretend that it didn’t happen. But it did.”

She herself endured the societal pressure to be silent about injustices, not only in the greater community, but hers as well, speaking candidly about her experiences with colorism and sexual assault.

Never Have I Ever star Poorna Jagannathan and actress Punam Patel agreed, speaking of a major gang rape and murder case in India, relating it to why diversity in media needs to include all stories, no matter how upsetting.

“We’re usually the punchline and never the plot line,” Jagannathan said. “Our struggles and pain are not represented.”

But when they are, she added, it “creates empathy and acceptance,” especially for those whose stories remain untold, such as immigrants.

Open dialogue and communication are also essential to breaking barriers and upending stereotypes — and not just against Asian Americans, Mai said.

“Chinese versus Filipino, Japanese versus Korean, which race was better?” the Vietnamese-Chinese American said, describing the hierarchical tensions that exist within the community. “Which skin color makes you more richer, the more affluent type?”

“That’s how racism starts,” she added. “You hear it somewhere and it’s taught… You need to address that or stop it if you hear it in your household today.”

Paulik agreed, saying that it is a “big responsibility” to stand in solidarity with all communities — especially in the “recent, horrific murder of Ahmed Arbery,” who was shot and killed while jogging, allegedly, by two White men.

“We all stand united to decry all hate, violence, and racism,” he declared.

Other methods to make Asian American community fully represented were discussed, such as financially supporting Asian American small businesses and creators.

Sometimes, stepping into the spotlight is “intimidating,” but that opens the door for others, said Tan France, fashion designer and one of the stars of Netflix’s Queer Eye.

“Nobody wants to be the first,” he said. “But now, I refuse to not be myself. I’m not going to hide that I’m Pakistani… raised Muslim… that I’m gay — I’m finally a person that’s allowed to be in this industry.

“It’s getting better. It really is.”

200 organizations, celebrities back AAPI Day Against Bullying & Hate streaming event on Monday

Some of the celebrities taking part in the 'United We Stand' virtual event on Monday, May 18.

When the coronavirus landed in the US, it unleashed a wave of anti-Asian acts of attacks, harassment and bullying giving more relevance to the annual AAPI Day Against Bullying+Hate on Monday, May 18.

The anti-bullying nonprofit Act to Change is hosting “United We Stand”, a virtual event calling for the end of racism and xenophobia. with a host of AAPI celebrities, community activists and elected officials taking part including John Cho, Kal Penn, Lisa Ling, Rep. Grace Meng, Jose Antonio Vargas Randall Park.

"Our mission at Act To Change is to protect and empower youth within our diverse AAPI communities, including Asian American, Pacific Islander, Sikh, Muslim, LGBTQI, and immigrant youth,” said actor, author, and Act To Change co-founder Maulik Pancholy.

“Act To Change puts together an annual national AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate to stand in solidarity and recommit to our movement," continued Pancholy. "Sadly, COVID-19 has only exacerbated the xenophobia and racism that AAPI communities have always faced. It’s inspiring to see leaders and individuals from all over the country stand with us, honor the legacy of Vincent Chin, and pledge today and everyday, to stand up against bullying and hate.”

This day of prevention and awareness comes at a critical point of time where Asian Americans are increasingly facing racist because COVID-19 is believed to have made its first appearance in China. The knowledge has led to the avoidance of and attacks towards anyone of Asian descent, regardless of if they have had no contact from anyone related to the epicenter. 

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council’s Stop AAPI Hate has received more than 1,900 reports of hate crimes against Asians since March. “United We Stand” is a call for communities to stand together against violence, xenophobia, and racism.

Over 200 organizations are supporting the event.

Moderated by actor and author Pancholy, among the special guests are:

• Tan France, TV personality
• Lisa Ling, journalist
• John Cho, actor
• Padma Lakshmi, food expert & author
• Kal Penn, actor, producer & former Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement
• Randall Park, actor, writer & producer
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray
• Jose Antonio Vargas, founder, Define American
• Helen Zia, author/activist
• Poorna Jagannathan, actor, Netflix’s Never Have I Ever
• Hudson Yang, actor, Fresh Off the Boat
• Celia Au and Lawrence Kao, actors, Wu Assassins
• Punam Patel, actor, Netflix’s SPECIAL
• Congresswoman Grace Meng (NY-06)
• Bing Chen, chairman, Gold House & general partner, AUM Group
• Michelle Lee, editor-in -chief, Allure

The streaming will be 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m. Monday. More details at acttochange.org/dayagainstbullying. Live stream information will be provided upon registration.