May 26, 2022 - Politics & Policy

K-pop band BTS meeting Biden to raise awareness of anti-Asian hate

Erin Doherty

K-pop boy band BTS visit the SiriusXM Studios on February 21, 2020 in New York City. — K-pop band BTS visits the SiriusXM Studios in 2020 in New York City. Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM

Popular Korean pop boy band BTS is meeting with President Biden next week to "discuss Asian inclusion and representation" and address the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, the White House said Thursday.

Driving the news: The band will meet with Biden on May 31, per the White House announcement.

"President Biden and BTS will also discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion and BTS’ platform as youth ambassadors who spread a message of hope and positivity across the world," the White House said.

The big picture: The meeting coincides with Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AAPI), which runs through the end of May.

Reports of hate crimes surged in 2021 in more than a dozen of America's largest cities, with a record number of Asian Americans saying they were targeted, Axios' Russell Contreras and Shawna Chen reported this year.
Anti-Asian American hate crimes rose 339% in 2021, according to the preliminary results from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.

Go deeper ... Watch: A conversation on AAPI visibility & vulnerability

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K-pop band BTS meeting Biden to raise awareness of anti-Asian hate

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