iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
When the pandemic began in 2020, it wasn’t just the coronavirus that was spreading far and wide, but another deadlier virus that has been haunting humans for ages, sprang up its ugly head all over the place – racism.
Over the past year, the US has witnessed a significant raise in hate crimes, especially among the Asian and South Asian community.
In order to fight against this, the bill has been passed by the US Senate to address the drastic increase of violence & hate directed against this particulate community, with overwhelming bipartisan support.
The Senate has successfully passed the ‘COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act’.
The legislation will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate resources to federal, state, and local justice officials to monitor and address the surge in hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community since the start of the pandemic.
This act comes as a breather to millions of community members across the country who are now in fear of roaming freely, in a country they call home.
Indian American Impact Fund, one of the largest groups in the US that empower community members in the political front applauds the passing of this act.
“In the past year alone, there have been more than 3,800 reported anti-Asian hate crimes, but those numbers are dramatic underestimates for the accurate national figures we need to make policy,” says Neil Makhija, Executive Director of IMPACT.
“All Americans need to understand the experience of Asian Americans. The fact that this is one of the only bills to receive bipartisan support in our current Congress highlights the magnitude of the crisis that AAPI communities are experiencing and the urgency of working together to tackle racism and
hate”, added Makhija.
With the passage of this bill, we can begin to restore our community’s faith in our government and move one step closer to fighting racism against Asian Americans.
