May 20, 2021
Act To Change Applauds Passage of COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act
Today, President Biden signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law, after bipartisan passage in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Act To Change applauds the swift passage of this bill, especially with the rise in hate incidents against Asian American communities.
Stop AAPI Hate has had more than 6,600 incident reports since March 2020. And we know this is an undercount. Stop AAPI Hate’s online reporting tool in multiple Asian languages begins to fill a large gap in reporting and tracking for AAPI hate; however, it is time for the federal government to take leadership and invest resources in our communities.
The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act is a positive step forward in requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to establish online reporting, accessible in multiple AAPI languages, and to take affirmative steps to expand culturally competent and linguistically appropriate public education campaigns.
However, the work is far from over. We continue to remain committed to ending bullying among AAPI youth, through understanding and educating the public of the systems of white supremacy and oppression that stymy any progress in civil rights for all marginalized communities.
