On the recordMarch 17, 2021
The tragic shootings in Atlanta yesterday killed eight people--six of whom were Asian women. To the families of the victims, you have my deepest condolences. This crime has elements that we are trying to address here in Congress; gun violence, violence against women, and the meteoric rise of violence we are witnessing against the AAPI community. Racially motivated violence must be called out for exactly what it is, and we must stop making excuses or rebranding it as economic anxiety or sexual addiction. Madam Speaker, as a woman who is Black and Korean, I am acutely aware of how it feels to be erased and ignored, and how the default position when violence is committed against people of color or women is to defer from confronting the hate that is often the motivation. Madam Speaker, words matter and leadership matters. We must all loudly condemn actions and language rooted in fear and bigotry that harms all of us.
