President Joe Biden called on Congress Friday to "swiftly" pass the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act days after six Asian American women were killed in Georgia.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y, District 6), would create a position at the Justice Department that would specifically deal with handling and reviewing hate crimes related to the pandemic. A recent study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at the California State University, San Bernardino, found that although hate crimes dropped overall in the U.S. in 2020, crimes against people of Asian descent jumped nearly 150 percent. If passed, the new law would also expand resources dedicated to stopping these crimes.
"It also means working with law enforcement, training law enforcement to communicate with Asian American communities, and helping those communities be able to report those crimes," Rep. Mark Takano (D- Calif. 41st District) told Cheddar.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Asian American leaders in Atlanta on Friday, three days after eight people were killed at area spas, six of the victims being women of Asian descent. Biden urged Congress to pass the legislation so the federal government can offer aid.
Takano noted that Biden has already signed executive orders directing agencies to turn their attention to the rise of violence against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. He said it will take strong leadership to guide the country in the right direction, noting the rhetoric Americans have heard from former President Donald Trump.
"This has been a huge change in tone from the last president," he said.
Americans need "leadership that doesn't use words like 'kung flu' or 'China virus' to describe a pathogen that comes from nature and therefore leave a whole population of Asian Americans subject to being stigmatized and blamed for something that they're not responsible for," Takano added.
The congressman said former President Trump's language toward Asians was simply an attempt to "distract from his low, inadequate ways."
Though the California representative said it is often difficult to prove hate crimes in a courtroom, creating systems where individuals can safely and confidently report incidents could help improve chances for more favorable outcomes.
"Regardless of what the assailant said, the murderer said, and how the local sheriff characterized it," said Takano, "It very much looks to those of us in the Asian community and broader, that this was really an attack on people based on their descent, their Asian-ness. But the legal standard is a much different thing."
China's largest ride-hailing company will no longer be listed on the world's largest stock exchange. Didi shareholders voted on Monday to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, less than a year after launching a $4.4 billion IPO with the most significant U.S. share offering by a Chinese company since Alibaba debuted in 2014. Since going public in June of last year, around $70 billion has been wiped from Didi's market value and shares of the company have dropped nearly 90%. Now, Didi is expected to begin preparations to list in Hong Kong. Kevin T. Carter, founder and Chief Investment Officer of EMQQ Global, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
This episode of On The Job presented by ADP: Cheddar takes a deep dive into how offices in Silicon Valley are handling return-to-office policies with Jesse Levinson, Cofounder and CTO of Zoox; Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer at ADP breaks down the importance of flexibility at work and how to approach compensation in order to improve retention; Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development, explains how A.I. can play a role in sustainability efforts and what business leaders need to know about ESG.
Jeremy Kim and Wootak Kim, content creators and the stars of the ‘Under the Influence’ podcast and YouTube series, joined Cheddar News to talk about using their platform to help other Asian American creators. "When we were kind of like coming up with the show idea, there's like so many other people that we really respect or look up to or that interesting stories that will never get the chance to be seen by anybody else," said Jeremy Kim. "And so that's the kind of the platform that we wanted to create."
Chantel Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of Play Pits, joins Cheddar News to discuss how she's grown her business from making it in her very own home to being sold on the shelves in Target stores across the nation, and break down how her business remained resilient throughout the pandemic.
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
Catching you up on the entertainment headlines of the day with the new "Thor: Love and Thunder" trailer, Tom Cruise saying that he sees every movie that's in theaters, Lucasfilm warning Black actor Moses Ingram starring in "Obi-Wan Kenobi" about a potential racist backlash, and more.
