The Biden administration is taking a sharp 180-degree turn from the previous administration's dealings with regard to cultural sensitivity. On January 26th, Biden signed an executive order titled the Memorandum Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

The previous administration did not shy away from cultural insensitivity. During his campaign, Trump routinely called Mexicans "rapists" and at the onset of the pandemic, Trump routinely referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus." This language was harmful to the Asian community as they saw a spike in xenophobia and racism throughout 2020. CBS News shared a report in which hate crimes against Asian-Americans surged between March and June, with over 2,100 hate crimes toward the demographic being reported.

The surge in hate crimes was enough to prompt the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action to launch a website in which hate crimes against Asians could be reported. Many critics explain that the hate toward this demographic is in direct relation to Trump's constant reference of the virus as the "Chinese virus."

President Biden’s memorandum points to the previous Administration's misuse of words and their implications by expressing, “The Federal Government must recognize that it 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. 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.”

The memorandum goes on to say that “The Federal Government has a responsibility to prevent racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against everyone in America, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. My Administration condemns and denounces acts of racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against AAPI communities.”

While the memorandum does not have a detailed plan of how the administration plans to combat racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Biden does point to some basic frameworks that his administration will take.

The first will be that the Secretary of Health and Human Services will work in conjunction with the COVID-19 Health Equity task force to create a sort of outline that offers guidance in ways to be culturally sensitive. These guidelines will aim to advance “cultural competency, language access, and sensitivity towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders” in terms of how the federal government responds to the pandemic. Biden explains that these guidelines will be a way to eliminate racially discriminatory language that could further perpetuate xenophobia and racism directed at Asian Americans.

In addition to paying attention to the semantics used when communicating about the virus, the memorandum highlights that the Attorney General will take necessary steps the support the Asian American communities to prevent further discrimination and hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Biden plans to continue collecting data on any racism, xenophobia, and hate crimes that are targeted at Asian Americans.

Biden’s stance on diversity and inclusion predates his response to the current climate of xenophobia and racism toward Asian Americans. Throughout his campaign, Biden has been vocal about supporting minorities, including those to the South of the border and those within our nation.

Throughout his campaign as well as his early days in the White House, Biden’s support of minorities has not always been received well, especially by those on the opposing side of the aisle. In a recent tweet, Biden faced backlash for vowing to prioritize minority-owned businesses that were hit hardest by the pandemic. Biden shared from the White House Twitter account, “Our priority will be Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild.”