When Presidents Hear Us

AACC responds to the Biden Memorandum.

One week into his presidency, Joe Biden signed a memorandum condemning and combating Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Noting that the Federal Government “has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin,” the memorandum acknowledges that “such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons.”

President Biden further states that his “Administration condemns and denounces acts of racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against AAPI communities.” Then, at the White House, he remarked, "Today, I'm directing federal agencies to combat the resurgence of xenophobia, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that we've seen skyrocket during this pandemic. This is unacceptable and it's un-American" 

This is a significant contrast from former president, Donald Trump, who even when asked to adjust his rhetoric seemed to double down on calling the virus ‘China virus,’ ‘Kung Flu,’ and ‘Chinese virus.’

In many ways what many hoped President Trump would have done, President Biden is doing. In fact, this was one of our hopes in writing the Asian American Christian Collaborative’s (AACC) “Statement on Anti-Asian Racism in the time of Covid-19” which garnered well over 10,000 signatures from Christian leaders throughout the United States, including, but not limited to presidents of seminaries like Mark Labberton of Fuller, Scott Sunquist of Gordon Conwell, Jeffrey Kuan of Claremont, M. Craig Barnes of Princeton, William Katip of Grace, David Vásquez-Levy of Pacific School of Religion, leaders of Christian organizations like Walter Kim of the National Association of Evangelicals, Shane Claiborne of Red Letter Christians, Scott Arbeiter of World Relief, Jemar Tisby of the Witness, Timothy Darlymple of Christianity Today, Nikki Toyama-Szeto of Christians for Social Action, Michael Oh of Lausanne, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Justin Giboney of AND Campaign, Latasha Morrison of Be the Bridge, and Tom Lin of Intervarsity, in addition to many others.

The memorandum condemning and combating anti-Asian racism is significant, as author and historian Erika Lee tweeted, “not just because 45’s use of ‘Chinese virus’ fueled anti-Asian violence,” but because “I don’t think any other POTUS has condemned xenophobia & anti-Asian hate. Period.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by AACC board member, Russell Jeung, who was the chief architect in both collecting and reporting data around anti-Asian racism as the pandemic rose with AAPI Hate. He noted, “The Executive Order is a symbolic step, but it has real significance because for the first time, a US president addresses the needs of the Asian American community at the start of their presidency.”  

During the pandemic, Asian Americans experienced greater mental health problems than any other racial group due to the persistent racial profiling in addition to the challenges others commonly faced. In addition, Asian Americans experienced the second highest level of unemployment (10.7%, second to African Americans at 13%) due to the racist associations made with COVID-19.

As Christians, we know the government is not our ultimate hope or our ultimate salvation, but it is one arena in which we can make our commitments as Christians known. If we are people of the ‘polis’ (“city” in Greek), then we are naturally politically-engaged people. As people who are engaged in political realities where votes and voices matter, we must regularly use our votes and our voices to articulate and advocate for issues that lead to the welfare of the society (Jer. 29). As we exercise our vote, our voices, and our civic muscles, we must follow the path of Jesus, hear those who are often ignored and see those who are often overlooked. This hearing and seeing is what led to the passing of the Executive Order. 

“Growing up as an Asian American, I never felt heard. With this Executive Order, I felt heard. Our collective voices have been heard, and our votes counted,” Jeung said to me (Raymond Chang) over the phone, “but we can’t take off the pedal now, and have to hold the government even more accountable”

Let us celebrate this historic moment, but continue to press forward, pursuing the peace and shalom of our society as we represent a Christ who saw and heard us in our greatest need for the sake of God’s glory and the good of our neighbors.