President Biden called his meeting with local Asian-American leaders in Atlanta on Friday “heartbreaking” and said racism was “the ugly poison that has haunted and plagued our nation for a long time.”
Biden and Veep Kamala Harris – the country’s first vice president in Asia – met with leaders to provide support after the massacre this week at three massage parlors in Atlanta.
Six of the eight people killed were Asian women, and although authorities at the time believe the murder was not a hate crime, the investigation continues.
“Racism is a reality in America, and it always has been,” Harris told a news conference after the meeting.
An injury to any of us is an injury to all of us. The president and I will not be silent.
“We will not stand by it. We will always speak out against violence, hate crimes and discrimination, wherever and whenever it occurs. ”
Biden, who was introduced to the podium, said the meeting was’ sad to hear.
“I have said from the beginning of my campaign for president that we must come together, that we must unite one people, one America, as one people,” Biden said.
“I believe with every fiber in my being that there are simply some core values and beliefs that we as Americans need to bring together,” he said. “One of them stands together against hatred,” he said.
Harris and Biden planned to travel to the capital of Georgia – home of the Centers for Disease Control – to complete the $ 1.9 billion stimulus bill and the milestone of delivering 100 million COVID-19 shots to Americans in the United States. to celebrate past 60 days. she said.
“And then on Tuesday night we learned that eight of our neighbors had died in a horrific act of violence – violence that has no place in the state of Georgia or in the United States,” Harris said.
“Regardless of the killer’s motives, these facts are clear. “Six of the eight people who were killed on Tuesday night were of Asian descent,” she said.
‘Seven were women. The shooting took place in businesses owned by Asian Americans. “The shootings took place because violence, hate crimes and discrimination against AA have increased dramatically in recent years,” she said.
“It’s all harmful, and unfortunately it’s not new,” she said of the 3,800 incidents of hate crime recorded against Asian Americans in the past year, two-thirds of which were committed by women.
“Everything from physical assaults to verbal accusations,” she said of the attacks.
Harris condemned the country’s history of xenophobia, including laws banning newly immigrated Asian Americans from owning property, as it helped build the country’s transcontinental railroad in the 1860s and the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans living there during the World War II had to live in interim camps.
“Today, @POTUS and I met with Asian American leaders in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss the increase in attacks on the community,” Harris tweeted after the meeting.
“We want Asian Americans in Georgia and throughout our country to know: we will not remain silent. We will not assist. We will always speak out against violence. ”
Suspect Aaron Robert Long admitted to investigators that he targeted the massage parlors because he wanted to “eliminate” the “temptation” that drove his alleged sex addiction.