White House Responds to Recent Wave of Violence Against Elderly Asian Americans

February 11, 2021

President Joe Biden’s Administration has expressed concern over the disturbing uptick in violence toward Asian Americans in recent weeks.

Several disturbing videos have emerged showing unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans, including at least three in the Bay Area within the last two weeks, as NextShark previously reported.

During a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by a reporter how the Biden administration would address the issue, and whether the President had seen the videos.

“I’m not aware that (Biden) he’s seen the videos,” Psaki said. “But he is concerned about the discrimination against, the actions against the Asian American community, which is why he signed the executive order and why he’s been outspoken in making clear that attacks, verbal attacks, any attacks of any form, are unacceptable and we need to work together to address them.”

During his first week in office, President Biden issued an executive order acknowledging racism being directed at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The order also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to avoid using language that could be offensive to the AAPI community as well.

“But obviously the executive order is something he did very early in his administration … because he felt it was so important to put a marker down,” Psaki added.

Meanwhile, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley announced on Monday the creation of a special response unit focused on crimes against older Asians, reports CNN.

“The rapid increase in criminal acts targeted against members of the Asian community, particularly Chinese Americans, who live and work in Alameda County is intolerable,” she said during a news conference in Oakland’s Chinatown.

Feature Image (left) via The White House, (right) via PBS NewsHour

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