Maryland first lady Yumi Hogan blasted anti-Asian attacks in an op-ed Thursday, saying Asian Americans “will not stay silent anymore” in the face of rising rates of discrimination and violence against their community.
Hogan wrote in the CNN op-ed that leaders in Washington, D.C., needed to do more to expand hate crime legislation, including improving the systems that allow such crimes to be reported and tracked.
“We will not stay silent anymore. But we will also not respond with vengeance. Instead, we will love each other more, we will support each other more, and we will stand together. We will make sure the overwhelming outpouring of support from leaders turns into real and lasting action that protects our children and grandchildren,” Hogan wrote.
“We are calling on leaders in Washington, DC, to take this matter seriously by passing laws, like those we have in Maryland, that improve and expand the reporting of hate crimes,” she wrote, referring to efforts made by her husband, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
Hogan’s op-ed comes amid rising reports of discrimination and physical attacks against Asian Americans, especially elderly members of the community, in recent weeks with new examples of people being attacked in broad daylight cropping up every few days.
The New York Police Department’s hate crime division said this week that it was investigating one of the latest attacks, in which an Asian man on a New York City subway was seen being attacked and struck repeatedly before being choked until going unconscious.