共和国总统乔·拜登谴责周五在亚特兰大针对亚裔美国人的仇恨犯罪上升温泉枪击案一名白人男子在该地区杀害了8人，其中大多数是亚裔美国妇女。
“他们受到了攻击、指责、替罪羊和骚扰，”拜登在与亚裔美国太平洋岛民社区的领导人会晤后说。
“他们被口头攻击、身体攻击、杀害，”他补充说，同时指出有更多的犯罪没有报告。
20世纪90年代，歧视和反亚洲仇恨犯罪激增新冠肺炎大流行。拜登从未提及前总统唐纳德·特朗普的名字，但指责了他的前任经常用来指代病毒的标签。
“话有后果。是冠状病毒。“句号，”拜登说。
副总裁贺锦丽他是南亚后裔，呼应了总统对特朗普的含蓄抨击，因为特朗普在特朗普面前发表讲话时放大了种族主义言论。
“在过去的一年里，我们有一些身居高位的人把亚裔美国人当成替罪羊，”她说。"拥有最大讲坛的人传播这种仇恨."
哈里斯用她的简短评论强调了美国种族主义的悠久历史，特别提到了20世纪40年代日裔美国人的拘留营和911袭击后美国穆斯林的看法。
“种族主义在美国，而且一直都是，”哈里斯说。"仇外心理在美国是真实存在的，而且一直都是——性别歧视."
周二的杀戮很可能是一次“有针对性的袭击，由个人不满据一位知情人士透露。
总统说，他定期得到联邦当局的更新，联邦当局与地方官员、州长布赖恩·坎普和亚特兰大市长凯莎·兰斯·伯顿密切合作。
拜登说:“不管动机是什么，我们都知道这一点:太多的亚裔美国人在街上走来走去，忧心忡忡，在过去的一年里，他们每天早上醒来都觉得自己和亲人的安全岌岌可危。”。
他继续说，“仇恨和暴力经常隐藏在显眼的地方”，并且经常遭到沉默。拜登呼吁美国人采取行动“畅所欲言”，因为“沉默是共谋”
“我们不能串通一气，”他说。“我们必须行动。...我们必须改变我们的心。仇恨在美国没有避风港。必须停止。这是我们所有人的责任，我们所有人一起努力阻止它。”
拜登发现自己在年轻的总统任期内又一次扮演了“首席安慰者”的角色，他在讲话结束时直接对受害者家属发表讲话，并依靠自己失去亲人的亲身经历试图减轻他们的痛苦。
拜登说:“我知道他们觉得自己的胸口被吸进了一个黑洞，情况永远不会好转，但我们为你祈祷。”。“我向你保证，你失去的那个人将永远和你在一起，永远和你在一起。总有一天，他们的记忆会给你带来微笑，然后让你热泪盈眶，就像现在一样不可思议。这需要一段时间，但我向你保证它会到来。当它来临时，你就知道你会成功的。”
总统公开表示支持亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民社区，发布了总统令备忘录1月26日，要求司法部长支持州和地方机构以及AAPI社区防止仇恨犯罪，并扩大数据收集和公开报道。
拜登的佐治亚之行原本计划宣扬他的1.9万亿美元的美国救援计划获得通过，作为他“帮助在这里”之旅的一部分，但在致命的枪击事件后，他的行程被改变了。当天早些时候，拜登和哈里斯自上任以来首次访问了疾病控制中心，并感谢他们在过去一年中的工作新冠肺炎大流行。
'It must stop': Biden, Harris condemn violence against Asian Americans on Georgia trip
PresidentJoe Bidencondemned the rising hate crimes against Asian Americans while in Atlanta on Friday, following a string ofspa shootingsin the area by a white man that killed eight people, most of whom were Asian American women.
"They've been attacked, blamed, scapegoated and harassed," Biden said following a meeting with leaders from the Asian American Pacific Islanders community.
"They've been verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed," he added, while noting there are more crimes that go unreported.
Discrimination and anti-Asian hate crimes saw a surge over the course of theCOVID-19 pandemic. Biden never mentioned former President Donald Trump by name, but rebuked the labels his predecessor would often use to refer to virus.
"Words have consequences. It's the coronavirus. Full stop," Biden said.
Vice PresidentKamala Harris, who is of South Asian descent, echoed the president's veiled swipe at Trump for amplifying racist rhetoric when she spoke before him.
"For the last year, we've had people in positions of incredible power scapegoating Asian Americans," she said. "People with the biggest pulpits spreading this kind of hate."
Harris used her brief remarks to highlight the long history of racism in the U.S., specifically noting internment camps for Japanese Americans in the 1940s and the perception of Muslims in America after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Racism is in America, and it has always been," Harris said. "Xenophobia is real in America and always has been -- sexism, too."
Tuesday's killings were likely a "targeted attack driven bypersonal grievance," according to a source briefed on the probe.
The president said he's being regularly updated by federal authorities who are working closely with local officials, Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
"Whatever the motivation, we know this: Too many Asian Americans have been walking up and down the streets and worrying, waking up each morning the past year feeling their safety and the safety of their loved ones are at stake," Biden said.
He continued, saying “hate and violence often hide in plain sight” and that it’s often met with silence. Biden made a call to action for Americans to "speak out" because "silence is complicity."
"We cannot be complicit," he said. "We have to act. ... We have to change our hearts. Hate can have no safe harbor in America. It must stop. And it's on all of us, all of us together to make it stop."
Biden found himself in the role of "consoler-in-chief" once again in his young presidency, speaking directly to the victims' families at the end of his remarks and leaning on his personal experience with losing loved onesto try to ease their pain.
"I know they feel that there's a black hole in their chest they're being sucked into and things will never get better, but our prayers are with you," Biden said. "And I assure you, the one you lost will always be with you, always be with you. The day will come when their memory brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye, as unbelievable as that is now. It will take a while, but I promise you it will come. And when it does, that's the day you know you're going to make it."
The president has been vocal in his support for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, issuing a presidentialmemorandumon Jan. 26 for the attorney general to back state and local agencies and AAPI communities in preventing hate crimes and to expand data collection and public reporting.
Biden's trip to Georgia was originally planned to tout the passage of his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan as part of his "Help is Here" tour, but his schedule was altered after the deadly shootings. Earlier in the day, Biden and Harris visited the Centers for Disease Control for their first time since taking office and thanked them for their work over the course of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
