Kamala Harris mourns victims of ‘heinous’ Atlanta shootings in speech

Vice-president Kamala Harris condemned Tuesday’s shooting of eight people in Atlanta, six of them Asian-American women, as a “heinous act of violence” during a speech at Emory University.

Her remarks followed a meeting between herself, president Joe Biden, and a delegation of Asian-American leaders from Georgia.

“Whatever the killer’s motive, these facts are clear,” she said. “Six out of the eight people killed on Tuesday night were of Asian descent. Seven were women. The shootings took place in business owned by Asian-Americans. The shootings took place as violent hate crimes and discrimination against Asian-Americans has risen dramatically over the last year or more.”

“Racism is real in America, and it has always been,” she continued. “Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism, too,” she added, before describing the long history of systematic and individual acts of racism against Asian-Americans.