TEXAS, USA — COVID-19 came with pain, loss, devastation and at the same time, several hate crimes.
Last March, the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act was brought to life by a few U.S. Senators.
"The bill is written to address any hate crime against anyone that has nexus with COVID-19," said Matt Manning with Webb, Cason and Manning, P.C.
He said the slang that surrounds COVID-19 has become dangerous for some Americans.
"The way it's been referred to has created an uptick in violence to certain people, against the Asian population which is why it's extremely problematic," said Manning.
92 Senators voted yes while six voted against the bill. One of them being Texas Rep. Ted Cruz.
"He's accusing the Democrats of trying to use this legislation to muzzle people and prevent them from talking about the fact that the COVID-19 virus came out of China," said Dr. Bill Chriss, a political analyst.
But that's not the purpose of the bill.
"The democratic response is 'We're not talking about that -- we're talking about the relation against Asian Americans,'" said Chriss.
For the Asian American Pacific Islander Committee out of Texas A&M Corpus Christi, the change for a better tomorrow with less hate starts with us.
"The standard of Democracy," said Rishi Raj with the AAPI committee, "If we change, our representation changes and that changes policy and that bring us towards a society that is fair and just".
The bill made it to the next step, but still needs a few more to officially be passed.