WASHINGTON — A key subcommittee in the House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing since the pandemic started to address the surge in racially motivated crimes against Asian Americans.
Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat who represents California's 27th congessional district, was a witness in the hearing. She said the hateful language from former President Donald Trump amid the pandemic, including "Kung Flu" and "China virus," exacerbated racial prejudice and is solely to blame for the surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans.
"We pleaded with Donald Trump not to use this terminology," Chu said. "We did it with statements, press conferences, letters that were sent directly to him, and he ignored it all. In fact, he doubled his usage of his terms, used it at every opportunity, and actually caused his republican followers also to use that term."
Chu said this is the aftermath of the former president's rhetoric describing the virus by a name other than the scientific term on top of years of hateful language toward immigrants and people of color. Chu said she's worried for her family and constituents.
Anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 of America's largest cities increased about 150% in 2020, according to the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. According to Stop AAPI Hate, hate crime against Asian Americans in California amounts to over 44% of the reports nationwide.
Chu said the person who started this could help stop it.
"President Trump surely could play a role in stopping these attacks or at least reducing them if he spoke up, but we have seen that he doesn't want to do this," Chu said.
But Congressman Chip Roy, R-TX, expressed concern and said that speech should not be targeted to combat these crimes.
"My concern about this hearing is that it seems to want to venture into the policing of rhetoric in a free society, free speech, and away from the rule of law and taking out bad guys," Roy said.
Roy went on to condemn the Chinese government, but his speech was followed by one from a New York Democrat rebuking Roy, claiming he used his time in a hearing on anti-Asian violence to complain about China.
"This hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community and to find solutions," Rep. Grace Meng said. "We will not let you take our voice away from us!"
Other Republican colleagues called on justice for victims, including Rep. Young Kim, R-La Habra.
"The hate, the bias, and the attacks that we've seen against the Asian American community are unacceptable, and they must be stopped," Kim said.
Although momentum with Congress and activists is picking up, Chu, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus chair, or CAPAC said this conversation was long overdue. She said she had asked to meet with the Department of Justice under the Trump administration for a year but was ignored. Now she plans to call for investigations into other potentially racially motivated crimes, including the Atlanta, Georgia shooting that left eight people dead, including six Asian women.
Activists like actor Daniel Dae Kim were invited to Thursday's hearing to represent Asians.
"We are 23 million strong," Dae Kim said. "We are united, and we are waking up."
Chu said she met with the Department of Justice last week to give CAPAC input on how to combat the rise in hate crimes and requested a meeting with the Attorney General. Chu also wants local law enforcement to receive new grants to train for a more unified way to respond to hate crimes. She said it varies between departments nationwide.
She's calling for March 26 to be a national day to speak out against Asian hate. She said all people need to stand in solidarity right now.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified the location Rep. Judy Chu represents. This has been corrected. (March 19, 2021)