FBN’s Susan Li, CNN’s Amara Walker Address Brutal Violence Against the AAPI Community

By A.J. Katz 

Fox Business correspondent Susan Li and CNN correspondent Amara Walker, two Asian-American women, addressed on-air the recent murders of eight people, six of whom were Asian women, at spas throughout the Atlanta area last week. This is just part of an increasing trend of violence against the AAPI population in this country.

Here’s Li yesterday afternoon on Fox News, speaking with Charles Payne:

Well, Charles, it’s been a really tough week for the Asian-American community and the motives are still playing out in this Atlanta shooting. But in journalism, we deal with facts. And the fact is that six out of the eight victims were Asian women. It’s a fact that anti-Asian violence has surged 150% over the past year, according to one California study. And it’s a fact that the Asian community is now fearful after these shootings, regardless of motive, and that will play out later on.

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But it’s this long simmering fear that’s been percolating throughout the community over the past year. You know, when I’ve walked in Chinatown or I’ve had relatives tell me of their stories passing by, people have shot a virus at them or, you know, some other some other derogatory terms, which I don’t think I want to share on television. But it’s just something that needs to stop. Someone needs to stand up for us. And hopefully there’s something coming from the White House and also some maybe something from Congress in denouncements and heightened policing would be great.

Payne then asked, “Susan, could there be excuses, in other words, underlying animosity or prejudice toward Asian Americans that now has been unleashed for whatever reason, but was there for a long time, a certain resentment?”

Her response:

Well, you know, it’s been there for a long time because even growing up as somebody in North America, as one that’s been here since I was two years old, you know, you’ve been called names in the playground. And for some reason, just over the past year, you’ve just heard this replay of things that you thought and hoped for were in the past. But maybe it’s because of what happened to the economy. People have lost their jobs. Obviously, COVID has been horrendous for everybody over the past 12 months. But for the entire community where we’re standing up for ourselves, finally, because the Asians have been called the model minority. So we’ve been silent. We’ve been taught to not cause problems. But I like the fact that it’s been galvanized and that we’re all getting together and we’re all standing as one hoping for a voice to say, please stop. We’re all in this together. We’re all Americans as well, and we all want to be part of this community.

Walker, meanwhile, was reporting for The Situation Room live from Atlanta on Friday. She became emotional on air, as she reacted to President Biden’s speech condemning anti-Asian hate crimes.

The president spoke about the rise in attacks against Asian-Americans, stating, “Hate can have no safe harbor in America.”

Walker said she “can’t overstate” how much it means for Asian-Americans to see the president and vice president acknowledge these concerns from a community “that has felt invisible for so long.”

Li, in her FBN appearance, remarked she hoped “there would be something coming from the White House.” Well, apparently, there was.

“And for the president to come and say, I see you, I hear you, I feel your pain…” Walker said, starting to get visibly choked up, “…and to elevate this issue, I think a lot of us — it’s a cathartic moment, because the first step is to be seen and to be heard.”

Walker talked about the feeling of being dehumanized as “a foreigner in your own country” and even brought up the Trump administration’s “flippant use” of language like “kung flu.”

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