【美新社訊】近期，針對亞裔的仇恨犯罪激增，導致很多亞裔青少年和家長開始感覺到不安全，甚至有些學生不敢回學校上課，怕被傷害。

 

C&D 世界人文基金會的創辦人、洛杉磯青少年領袖Cheery陳，於當地時間4月9日邀請亞裔家長協會及核桃學區華裔家長協會共同舉辦記者會，呼籲亞裔同胞聯合起來，發出“保護青少年，請聆聽我們的聲音！”的呼聲。

美國國會議員趙美心在當天記者會上表示，作為民意代表和國會亞太裔核心小組（CAPAC）的主席，她一直專注於解決針對亞裔的仇恨和犯罪，以及尋找確保社區安全的方法，這就是為什麼今天的新聞發布會如此重要。

 

一年多來，針對亞裔的仇恨和犯罪給亞裔美國人社區帶來了驚嚇和恐懼。最初的骯髒的面孔，迅速升級為致命的暴力，導致佐治亞州亞特蘭大地區發生了恐怖的槍擊事件，針對三個亞裔擁有的企業，造成8人遇難，其中包括6名亞裔婦女。但是，儘管這些謀殺案震驚了我們的國家，但對於亞裔美國人社區中的許多人來說，令人遺憾的是，這並不令人驚訝。這只是2020年開始激增的針對亞裔的仇恨和犯罪中的一起，而且本可以避免。

趙美心說：“沒有人，應該為種族而擔心自己的安危。因此，一年多以前，我開始從新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫情大流行中看到的針對亞裔的偏見和仇恨的增加，並發出警報。在下達“居家令”之前，人們就開始避開亞裔擁有的商業企業，原因是有人誤傳亞裔某種程度上對這種病毒負責或者更可能傳播這種病毒。而且，包括前總統在內的領導人，使用“China Virus ”，“Kung Flu” 等詞語，更使這種情況更加惡化。儘管美國疾病控制和預防中心（CDC）和世界衛生組織（WHO）警告說，將病毒與一個特定的國家或種族群體聯繫在一起，只會妖魔化、並使生命受到威脅。”

 

因此，她與國會兩黨的每一位國會議員取得了聯繫，並敦促他們避免傳播仇外心理或有關新冠肺炎和病毒的錯誤信息。趙美心呼籲民選官員們只使用正式學名“新冠肺炎（COVID-19）” 來稱呼該疾病。眾議院甚至通過了眾議員孟昭文（Grace Meng）提出的一項提案，譴責新冠肺炎疫情大流行引發的針對亞裔的仇恨和暴力的增加。當我們進行投票時，同事們的大力支持令我感動。但可悲的是，另一方面，許多人繼續否認自己的言論所產生的影響，他、她們繼續無視專家的建議。結果，在過去一年中，我們看到了3,800多起針對亞裔的仇恨事件和犯罪的報告，其中三分之二是針對亞裔女性的，這還只是一個機構的調研結果。

 

所有這些暴力襲擊都是恐怖的，顯然是出於偏執和仇恨。來自得克薩斯州的一名男子在山姆俱樂部外，刺傷了一個亞裔家庭，其中包括兩個2歲和6歲的年輕孩子，因為男子相信亞裔在傳播這種病毒。上個月的佐治亞州亞特蘭大地區槍擊案中，兇手駕車27英里、刻意選擇了亞裔的商家和企業，只為加害亞裔婦女。一名84歲的祖父在舊金山，被人猛烈地推倒在地，頭部受傷後去世。

 

趙美心表示，因此，上個月，美國國會亞太裔核心小組呼籲和組織，在3月26日作為全國范圍的虛擬“行動與康復日” ，旨在“阻止針對亞裔的仇恨”，成千上萬的人通過全國各地的虛擬活動、社交媒體帖子、或者現實中的遊行和機會參與其中。幸運的是，我們得到了重要合作夥伴的幫助，那就是拜登總統。拜登總統就職後的第一周，發表了總統備忘錄，以解決針對亞裔的仇恨問題，並指示司法部做出更多努力，以幫助追踪和解決仇恨犯罪。就在上週，拜登總統也宣布了，為保護亞太裔（AAPI）社區安全將採取的其他行動。

 

但這僅僅是一個開始。我們還需要新的法律，來改善仇恨犯罪的報告和跟踪，以便我們能夠更好地理解和解決這個問題，這就是為什麼我在國會推動《新冠疫情反仇恨犯罪法》（ COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act ）和《反仇恨法案》（No Hate Act）。你們每個人也都起著重要的作用，而今天您正在這裡就可以做到這一點，一起來支持和推動。

 

當我們看到歧視、欺凌、仇恨行為時，請支持我們的朋友和鄰居，不管他們的背景如何，我們每個人都可以大聲說出來。我們的多元化是我們的力量。當我們互相關懷、幫助、團結時，我們可以做很多事情。

 

因此，再次感謝大家聚首談論進行此次重要的對話。當我們繼續哀悼因那些暴力而不幸喪生的人、並安慰許多因此而感到恐懼的人時，請盡我們所能來確保亞太裔（AAPI）社區的安全。團結在一起，我知道我們可以停止針對亞裔的仇恨。

 

以下是英文全文：

 

Thank you so much to the Asian American parents, youth groups, and community leaders who organized this event today, and for inviting me to take part. As your Representative and as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, or what we call CAPAC, I have been laser focused on working to address anti-Asian hate crimes and ways to keep our community safe.

And that is why today’s press conference is so important. For over a year, the Asian American community has been terrified by anti-Asian bigotry. What started out as dirty looks quickly escalated to deadly violence, leading up to the horrific shootings in Georgia that targeted three Asian-owned businesses and killed eight people, including six Asian women. But while these murders shocked our nation, for many of us in the Asian American community, they were sadly not surprising. They were just some of the latest attacks in a year when the Asian American community has experienced an alarming rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. And they could have been avoided.

Nobody should have to fear for their safety because of their race. That is why, over one year ago, I started to raise the alarm about the increase in anti-Asian xenophobia and prejudice that we were seeing from the coronavirus pandemic. Even before there were stay-at-home orders, people started to avoid Asian-owned businesses because of misinformation that Asian Americans were somehow responsible for the virus or more likely to spread it. And this was made worse by elected leaders, including the former President, who used harmful language like “Chinese Virus” and “Kung Flu” to refer to the virus even though the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization warned that associating a virus with a specific country or ethnic group would only create stigma that would put lives at risk. So I reached out to every Member of Congress on both sides of the aisle and I urged them to avoid spreading xenophobia or misinformation about the coronavirus. I urged our elected leaders to only refer to the virus by its scientific name, COVID-19. And the House even passed a resolution introduced by Rep. Grace Meng to condemn the rise in anti-Asian violence from the coronavirus pandemic.

When we held this vote, I was so moved by the outpouring of support from my colleagues. But tragically, many on the other side continued to deny the impact their words were having, and they continued to ignore the advice from experts. As a result, we have seen over 3,800 reported anti-Asian hate crimes and incidents in the last year, over two-thirds of which targeted Asian American women. All of these attacks have been horrific and obviously motivated by bigotry and hate, from the man in Texas who stabbed an Asian family outside a Sam’s Club – including two young children ages 2 and 6 – because he believed they were spreading the virus, to the killing of an 84-year-old grandfather in San Francisco who was violently shoved to the ground while walking in his neighborhood, to the shootings in Georgia last month.

That is why, last month, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus called for a Virtual National Day of Action and Healing on March 26^th to “Stop Asian Hate” where thousands participated through virtual events and social media posts across the nation. And fortunately, we have already gotten help from an important partner, and that is President Biden. Within his first week in office, President Biden issued a presidential memorandum to address anti-Asian hate that instructs the Department of Justice to do more to help track and address hate crimes. And just last week, President Biden announced additional actions that he is taking to keep AAPIs safe.

 

But this is just a start. We also need new laws to improve hate crimes reporting and tracking so we can better understand and address this problem, which is why I am pushing for the passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and the NO HATE Act in Congress.

But there’s an important role for each of you as well, and you are doing it by being here today. Every one of us can make a difference by speaking up when we see bullying and standing up for our friends and neighbors, no matter their background. Our diversity is our strength and there is so much we can do when we look out for each other.

So thank you again for having this important conversation. As we continue to mourn the lives of those tragically lost to this violence, and comfort so many others terrified by it, let’s do all that we can to keep our AAPI communities safe. Together, I know we can stop Asian hate.