Asian Americans Advancing Justice has demanded a meeting with FBI director Christopher Wray after he made anti-Chinese comments.
Last month FBI director Christopher Wray was condemned for making racist comments towards Chinese students.
During the Senate intelligence committee’s annual open hearing, Wray said Chinese students could be a threat towards US national security. “The counterintelligence risk posed to U.S. national security from Chinese students, particularly those in advanced programs in science and mathematics,” he said.
Splinter News reports that Asian Americans Advancing Justice has joined four other civil rights groups in condemning Wray and demanding a meeting with him.
In a shared statement, the organisations said, “As civil rights organizations rooted in fighting discrimination against Asians in the United States, we find FBI Director Christopher Wray’s recent comments reprehensible. In one broad stroke, his unsubstantiated statements play into a racist history in the U.S. of framing Asians (particularly Chinese) as “perpetual foreigners,” the “yellow peril,” and — in the case of Muslim Americans — terrorist threats. Such irresponsible comments result in the racial profiling of Chinese and Chinese American students, professors, and researchers. It also fans the flames of xenophobia against all Asian Americans.
We join other Chinese and Asian American civil rights groups in demanding a meeting to address our concerns – our joint letter was sent today to FBI Director Wray.
We cannot have every Chinese student or scientist assumed guilty until proven innocent of a national security threat. We will continue to vigilantly challenge the FBI and any other agencies that profile and target our communities in such a broad and unconstitutional way.”
