WASHINGTON D.C.— Pres. Obama has announced a new anti-bully task force and “hate crime” categories to stem the “rising tide of bigotry and harassment” against Asian Pacific Americans.
In a speech to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS) on Wednesday, Obama warned of the “bigotry and hatred” victimizing Asian Pacific Americans – and touted the new task force:
“We just have to keep speaking out against hatred and bigotry in all of its forms.

“So I’m proud of all of you for rallying around the Muslim and Sikh and Arab and South Asian communities who face a rising tide of bigotry and harassment.To support your work, we recently launched the AAPI Bullying Prevention Task Force to look at ways that the federal government can help your communities prevent and respond to bullying.”

Obama even blamed discrimination for spreading disease to the Asian Pacific American community:

“It’s easy for people to buy into the myth of “model minority,” and gloss over the real challenges and discrimination that still exist.  We know that certain AAPI groups still face higher dropout rates, obstacles to employment, even higher rates of some diseases.”

Additional measures Obama announced include reviving an initiative and instituting the new FBI “hate crime” categories:

“We reestablished the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to take a closer look at specific issues facing different AAPI communities.”

“The Justice Department successfully recommended the addition of “Anti-Sikh,” “Anti-Hindu,” and “Anti-Arab/Anti-Middle Eastern” categories to the FBI’s hate crime reporting form.  That’s going to strengthen our efforts to end these despicable crimes.  And we will continue to stand in solidarity with all of our LGBT brothers and sisters against hateful rhetoric and discriminatory state laws targeting them.”

To achieve these goals, the administration will keep closer tabs on Americans’ private lives, Obama explained:

“So this is part of the reason why under my administration we’re trying to improve the federal government’s data collection, so we get a better picture of which communities might still need additional resources and attention to overcome some of these barriers.”