I'm Jonathan K. Parton, and this is K-POP.

An FBI report released late last month showed that 2020 witnessed the highest number of

hate crimes in 12 years, and that's a 6% increase over 2019.

Attorney General Merrick Garland specifically noted the rise in hate crimes against the

Asian-American Pacific Islander community.

These statistics inspired me to replay my interview from March, with Congressman Andy

Kim of New Jersey, the photo of him helping to clean the capital after the January 6th

insurrection went viral.

That art conversation about anti-Asian hate after the Atlanta spa shootings left an

indelible impression, especially when he talked about the impact on his five-year-old son

and on himself.

Listen to this powerful interview again right now.

Congressman Kim, thank you very much for coming to the podcast.

Thanks so much for having me here today.

Well, before we get into the big topic of why we're here and talking, let's talk about

your district, because when you and I have spoken offline before about your district,

which is an endless fascination for me, New Jersey's third congressional district, right?

That's right.

And the demographic makeup is about 80% white and just under 4% Asian-American.

That's about right.

That's right.

You were elected in 2018 to your first term beating out the incumbent Republican.

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