His remarks contained somber notes — Biden read from a note card he drew from his pocket that 527,726 Americans had died of the disease as of Thursday morning. And he denounced violence against Asian Americans, who have been scapegoated, he said. Advertisement “After one full year, there is hope and light for better days ahead,” he said. “I know it’s been hard. I truly know,” he said. But he added that “finding light in the darkness is a very American thing to do. In fact, it may be the most American thing we do. And that’s exactly what we’ve done.”