US Senate passes bill to fight anti-Asian hate crimes

A hate crimes bill to combat violence against Asian Americans in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic passed the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly on Thursday, a rare bipartisan vote in the evenly divided chamber.

The vote was 94-to-one, with Republican Sen. Josh Hawley the only no vote.

“I cannot tell you how important this bill is to the AAPI (Asian-American Pacific Islander) community who often has felt very invisible in our country,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, one of the bill’s authors, following its passage.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also praised the vote at a news conference Thursday.

Reports of violence against Asian Americans have spiked since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Activists and police said anti-Asian sentiment was fed by comments from former president Donald Trump blaming the pandemic on China using terms such as “kung flu.”

#Racism #Senate #Politics #GlobalNews

[nchristever]

Stop Hate against *ALL COLOR*
of people period !

[jeffersonprice]

This is more theater than anything meaningful. It's actually racist.

[richardheinen]

Introduced in Senate (03/23/2021)
COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act

This bill requires a designated officer or employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) hate crimes and reports of COVID-19 hate crimes.

It defines COVID-19 hate crime as a violent crime that is motivated by two things: (1) the actual or perceived characteristic (e.g., race or ethnicity) of any person, and (2) the actual or perceived relationship to the spread of COVID-19 of any person because of that characteristic.

The bill requires DOJ to issue guidance for state and local law enforcement agencies on how to establish online hate crime reporting processes in multiple languages and how to expand culturally competent education campaigns. Additionally, DOJ and the Department of Health and Human Services must issue guidance on best practices for mitigating racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic.

[dcraig]

We need to be kind to each other....period! Stop separating people. Grow up. Just be kind.

[mrmichael]

Bitcoin is the feature investing in it now is the wesest thing to do now especially the current rise

[resisttyranny]

But anti-white hate crimes are ok, folks. Great message 🙄

[brettgbarnes]

But I thought they were trying to _reduce_ the Black incarceration rate?

[ItIsGonnaGetWayWorse]

More theatre. Expect nothing to happen. Just more worthless laws that dont help anybody except to give more government overreach

[tinafan]

the Problem is all in your head she said to me, the answer is easy if you think it logically.

[Jon-gmsn]

I ordered pizza...i must be racist..wait, did I order it cause I'm trying not to be racist to Italians? Confusing times

[vintage]

Im sorry is there a black bill for us

[rockstarism]

Crimes are crimes hate crimes don’t exist

[yxg]

Everybody thought they know the answer to solve the problem, and others are just wasting time and creating trash. However, I gave my big thank to those who fight for the bill to be true, they are not just talking!

[Feng]

This bill is much needed. I'm in Minnesota and blacks aren't the only ones facing racial discrimination.