ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan and the First Lady Yumi Hogan recently sat down with Angie Goff to discuss the rise in violence against Asian Americans, what it is like to be an Asian American family in America, and what people can do to find lasting solutions to stop Asian hate. The governor and First Lady were joined for the interview by their daughter, Jaymi Sterling, and Goff’s father, Ren.
Last month, Governor Hogan announced the formation of a statewide workgroup charged with developing strategies, recommendations, and actions to address the rise in violence and discrimination targeting the Asian American community.
EXCERPTS
Governor Hogan:
“Over the past year it has started to reach such a level with such violence, with the increased rhetoric in people being screamed at and called names and violent attacks. It has finally made it into the headlines and the mainstream media coverage. The big part is we are finally raising awareness…We have to get people comfortable with reporting, we have to enforce the laws we have now, and we have to take further actions to make everybody aware.”
“I was outraged and quite frankly shocked at how bad it had gotten. There is no question that you are right that a lot of people in the wider community who are not a part of the Asian community were not paying much attention to discrimination against Asians. They didn’t realize the things that you all have contended with your whole lives.”
“We just appointed a workgroup that will study Asian hate crimes and talk about real solutions about what we can do to fix it with additional laws, additional prosecutions. It is not just going to be talking. We want to come up with a real substantive list of direct actions we can take.”
First Lady Yumi Hogan:
“I have been here in the United States for over 41 years, I am the first generation, I am the first Korean American First Lady in any state and first Asian First Lady in our state. I came to the United States for the American Dream—this is not the American Dream. In the future, we should all together make America stronger by understanding other cultures.”
Last month, Governor Hogan announced the formation of a statewide workgroup charged with developing strategies, recommendations, and actions to address the rise in violence and discrimination targeting the Asian American community.
EXCERPTS
Governor Hogan:
“Over the past year it has started to reach such a level with such violence, with the increased rhetoric in people being screamed at and called names and violent attacks. It has finally made it into the headlines and the mainstream media coverage. The big part is we are finally raising awareness…We have to get people comfortable with reporting, we have to enforce the laws we have now, and we have to take further actions to make everybody aware.”
“I was outraged and quite frankly shocked at how bad it had gotten. There is no question that you are right that a lot of people in the wider community who are not a part of the Asian community were not paying much attention to discrimination against Asians. They didn’t realize the things that you all have contended with your whole lives.”
“We just appointed a workgroup that will study Asian hate crimes and talk about real solutions about what we can do to fix it with additional laws, additional prosecutions. It is not just going to be talking. We want to come up with a real substantive list of direct actions we can take.”
First Lady Yumi Hogan:
“I have been here in the United States for over 41 years, I am the first generation, I am the first Korean American First Lady in any state and first Asian First Lady in our state. I came to the United States for the American Dream—this is not the American Dream. In the future, we should all together make America stronger by understanding other cultures.”
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