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<\/p>\nNiamh Harris
\nNewsPunch<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
African-American VP Kamala Harris slammed the U.S. as racist, sexist, and xenophobic during a speech at Emory University in Atlantic, Georgia on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cRacism is real in America and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism, too,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Harris breathlessly told the audience.<\/p>\n Breitbart.com<\/a> reports: Eight people were murdered this week at three massage parlors in Atlanta. Six of the victims were Asian.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Though police said that there was no evidence of a racial motive, advocates have claimed that the event is only the latest in a wave of anti-Asian-American hate crimes.<\/p>\n Democrats have also blamed former President Donald Trump, who took a tough stance against China and often referred to the coronavirus as the \u201cChina virus\u201d (though he also\u00a0praised and defended<\/a>\u00a0Asian-Americans.)<\/p>\n In her remarks, Harris hinted that Trump was to blame for attacks on Asian Americans: \u201cFor the last year, we\u2019ve had people in positions of incredible power scapegoating Asian Americans, people with the biggest pulpits, spreading this kind of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n When she was running for president, Harris\u00a0touted\u00a0herself as the first future Asian American president. Her mother is Indian-American.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n President Biden called on Congress to pass the \u201cCOVID-19 Hate Crimes Act<\/a>,\u201d which would punish any crime motivated by \u201cthe actual or perceived relationship to the spread of COVID\u201319 of any person\u201d due to the \u201crace, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability of any person.\u201d Biden also told Americans that \u201cwe have to change our hearts.\u201d The bill was proposed last year by Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), but failed to advance in the House.<\/p>\n Biden went on to talk about the country\u2019s progress in the coronavirus pandemic, and to attack Republican efforts at election reform, saying that Georgia\u2019s voters \u201chelped save our democracy\u201d in 2020. Republicans have\u00a0cited<\/a>\u00a0voting irregularities in the state in 2020 as reason to tighten rules against potential fraud \u2014 which Democrats call an attack on voting rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n