Biden Announces New Steps To Tackle Anti-Asian Violence And Discrimination

Biden Announces New Steps To Tackle Anti-Asian Violence And Discrimination Enlarge this image toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Justin Sullivan/Getty Images The White House on Tuesday announced a half-dozen new actions in response to attacks and harassment that Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in the United States have faced increasingly over the past year. "Across our nation, an outpouring of grief and outrage continues at the horrific violence and xenophobia perpetrated against Asian American communities, especially Asian American women and girls," the White House said in a statement. Included in Tuesday's announcement, which builds on January's Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, are directives to: Reestablish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with an initial emphasis on ending anti-Asian bias and violence Increase funding for AAPI survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault Establish a taskforce to address coronavirus-fueled xenophobia against Asian Americans Establish a cross-agency Justice Department initiative to investigate anti-Asian violence. This includes expanding the number of languages available for translation on the agency's hate crime website and training state and local law enforcement officials on how to report hate crimes Launch federal projects to celebrate contributions of Asian Americans to the country And fund National Science Foundation research on discrimination and xenophobia "Racism is never far below the surface in America, which is all too evident as the AAPI community has experienced escalating attacks and targeted violence during the pandemic," Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, wrote on Twitter in response to the news.