CAAL Supports Biden Presidential Memorandum Condemning Anti-Asian Discrimination and Xenophobia

For Immediate Release  
January 27, 2021

Contact
Julia Gay julia@caalmn.org | (216) 744-4956

Yesterday, President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum condemning and combating the racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the United States. The memorandum does several important things, including:

• Directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the COVID19 health equity task force to issue guidance on cultural competency, language access, and sensitivity. The focus here is to ensure that language such as “China Virus” is not included in any documents and that training be provided to avoid the stigma associated with such language. The idea is to ensure best practices when it comes to sensitivity and language access.
• Directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to engage with the community on issues related to hate crimes, hate incidents, and harassment, including to ensure that data is collected in a robust manner.  Note that the focus is not just on hate crimes but also on incidents and harassment.

“After enduring a President that condoned racist language, this is important step to ensuring that our government will no longer stand behind racist and xenophobic acts as we all work hard to recover,” said Bo Thao-Urabe, CAAL’s Executive and Network Director

This action is a big step in the right direction. Since the coronavirus was discovered, Asian American communities across the country and in Minnesota have been stigmatized by terms like “China Virus” and “Kung Flu” coming from the very top of our government. This scapegoating led to over 2,500 incidents of hate reported nationwide, including many in Minnesota. For example, towards the end of 2020 several incidents created great concern for Asian Minnesotans, including when a family in Austin, Minnesota had the words “China Virus” burned into their lawn and a woman walking in a natural trail in Bloomington, Minnesota was attacked after racial slurs were yelled at her.

“Racist and xenophobic language should have no place in our government, and President Biden’s memorandum signals an important step in holding accountability and begins our process of reckoning that we need to heal,” states Nick Kor, CAAL’s Senior Manager of Movement Building.

CAAL created the Asian Minnesotan Alliance for Justice (AMAJ) to continue working on issues of racism and xenophobia. AMAJ will continue shaping solutions with impacted community members and allies to ensure Minnesota is safe for all communities.

In addition to ending violence by emboldened actors who seek to blame Asian Americans for the pandemic, CAAL is working hard to ensure the concerns and experiences of our community are actively incorporated into local, state and federal governments’ pandemic recovery efforts. The reality is, Asian Minnesotans are crucial to Minnesota’s economy, many are essential frontline workers and are suffering a disproportionate share of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, facing higher rates of infection, hospitalizations and deaths, but much of this suffering has been invisible. 

CAAL fully stands behind leadership that roots out racism and xenophobia so that our cities, state and country’s health, education and economic systems can fully recover for every community.

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About Coalition of Asian American Leaders: 

The Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL) envisions a State where all Minnesotans, regardless of background, are actively engaged and can achieve prosperity. Our mission is to harness our collective power to improve community lives by connecting, learning, and acting together. To learn more, please visit www.caalmn.org.