Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Denounces racism in the wake of COVID-19.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution denouncing racism and any form of bias crime in New Jersey resulting from the coronavirus.
Whereas, The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was first reported in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019; and
Whereas, The spread of COVID-19 has led to increased prejudice, xenophobia, discrimination, violence, and racism against people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent and appearance world-wide, particularly in Northern America, Europe, as well as countries in Africa and the Middle East; and
Whereas, On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Emergency Committee issued a statement advising all countries to be mindful of the "principles of Article 3 of the International Health Regulations," which the WHO says is a caution against "actions that promote stigma or discrimination," when conducting national response measures to the outbreak; and
Whereas, According to the Pew Research Center, more than 20.4 million people living in the United States (U.S.) are of Asian descent and those who are of Chinese heritage make up the largest group of Asian people, at 4.9 million; and
Whereas, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has appealed to the public to remain calm while trying to quell misinformation indicating that “viruses cannot target people from specific populations, ethnicities, or racial backgrounds"; and
Whereas, On March 14, 2020, more than 200 civil rights groups in the U.S. demanded that the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership publicly denounce the growing amount of anti-Asian racism related to the pandemic and take "tangible steps to counter the hysteria" around COVID-19; and
Whereas, The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity”; and
Whereas, The Bias Crime Unit, in the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law and Public Safety, is the Statewide coordinator of efforts to eliminate crimes motivated by prejudice against others based on race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or ethnicity, and investigates complaints; and
Whereas, It is in the public interest of the citizens of the State of New Jersey and this great nation to denounce, in the strongest terms, any hate crimes or any other form of conduct that constitutes racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination based on ethnicity including incitement to violence resulting from COVID-19, and to encourage positive social behaviors; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This House strongly denounces any form of racism, ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting minorities in New Jersey resulting from COVID-19.
2. The Governor and the Attorney General are encouraged to provide State assistance to victims of hate crimes, to enhance security measures and improve preparedness at institutions that have been targeted because of their affiliation with any particular race or ethnicity resulting from COVID-19, and to encourage positive social behaviors among New Jersey citizens during this difficult time.
3. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the President and Vice President of the United States of America, the presiding officers of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress elected from the State of New Jersey.
STATEMENT
This resolution denounces racism and any form of bias crime in New Jersey resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19).
The resolution further encourages the Governor and the Attorney General to provide State assistance to victims of hate crimes and to enhance security measures and improve preparedness at institutions that have been targeted because of their affiliation with any particular race or ethnicity resulting from COVID-19, and to encourage positive social behaviors among New Jersey citizens during this difficult time.
COVID-19 was first reported in December of 2019 in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China. The spread of COVID-19 has led to increased prejudice, xenophobia, discrimination, violence, and racism against people of East Asian and Southeast Asian descent and appearance world-wide, particularly in Northern America and Europe, as well as countries in Africa and the Middle East.