Renowned actor and civil rights activist George Takei offered his analysis of the wave of racist attacks on Asians in America.
"A report from the Asian-American Bar Association of New York details the rise of violence against Asian-Americans in New York during the COVID-19 pandemic," MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reported on Tuesday. "Across the country, there were more than 2,500 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents related to COVID-19 between March and September 2020."
"And this number understates the actual number anti-Asian hate incidents because most are not reported," O'Donnell added.
For analysis, O'Donnell interviewed Takei, the author of the 2019 book They Called Us Enemy.
"Well, throughout American history there has been a steady undercurrent of Asian hate crimes throughout," Takei noted. "When there are events of xenophobic hysteria, then it swells up and we are going through that right now."
"Particularly because former President Trump, -- or as defendant Trump, as you referred to him -- started using the words 'China virus,' or 'Wuhan virus,' or 'kung flu' -- that just galvanized xenophobes," he explained. "There was a swelling up of violence against -- particularly elderly Asian-Americans."
Takei also explained the lessons he learned being held in an internment camp during World War II.
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George Takei
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