During the COVID-19 pandemic, people volunteered something to help others through tough times. Others offered their ignorance. And that resource has been endless. Some have spread disinformation, others have taken advantage of the situation to spread fear against Asian Americans. Before, during, and after Donald Trump's Presidency, he has been accused of being a racist, here's why.
During the pandemic, the then-President of the United States repeatedly used the following terms:
"China virus", "Kung Flu", etc.
As one can imagine, attaching ethnicity to the virus was extremely inflammatory, as a study from March, 2020 found. Before President Trump used the term, there was hardly any mention of the term, afterwards, by a lopsided margin, the use of the term exploded. Various racist terms were used on social media against Chinese people were also quite common. (Note, I don't type racial slurs on this blog, head to page three).
Look, here's the deal.
If the coronavirus had originated in the U.S, and people called it the "American virus" I guarantee you people in the U.S who use "China virus" would blow a gasket. I could use other Western countries as an example, but you get the idea. The hypocrisy would be on full display by those who defend using the term "China virus". Here's the deal, you can criticize China or "CHY-NA" without bringing ethnicity into it. China is a currency manipulator, their human rights abuses are appalling, their trade practices are manipulative, and the altering of their Constitution to make Xi Xinping "President for Life" should be alarming for those worried about dictatorships... see?
And if you're meaning to refer to the Communist Party of China (CCP), then just mention the Chinese Government (the CCP is the ruling party), and make explicitly clear you're not mentioning ethnicity.
I don't need sixty five paragrahs to point this out, do I? Anyhow, when it comes to the rise of anti-Asian hatred running rampant, it's hard to imagine why some might thing that the 2021 Atlanta spa shooting -which happened at an Asian owned spa- might be tied into anti Asian hate. It's like thinking that a black person getting murdered in the Jim Crow era in the deep South could have possibly been the result of a hate crime.
The Testimony of A Close Friend.
This is a lengthy one, but it's worth the read:
"As an Asian American living through the pandemic, I am extremely lucky to not have experienced physical violence...yet. Huge emphasis on that. Others have not been so lucky as they have been beaten, stabbed or shot dead. My story starts in Laos. My parents are Vietnam War refugees. We are Southeast Asian. I was born here. Yet, bigots only believe that Asian people are only from China and Japan. They don't believe that we're real Americans.
"When the pandemic started, I was called slurs and had many people including my friends say or post things that they didn't believe it was racist towards me. "Kung-Flu", "China Virus" and "Bat Eater" are racist comments. I was so tired of this that I ended up wearing sunglasses to cover my eyes. I never had anything happen to me while I was covered up. After the harassment escalated to people getting seriously injured, I became even more scared for me and my family. Some of my family that lives here doesn't speak English that well. They wouldn't know what to do if someone was targeting them because of race. There are also not many resources for anti-racism translate into Asian languages. Most of the victims were elderly Asians. "Eventually found myself not having to worry so much after August. Unfortunately, the same feelings came back once again around the same time it started last year. I can say that the fear is even greater because of what happened in Atlanta. There were people bickering about whether it was racially motivated or not when Asian people were crying out that it was. The shooter's actions were excused because "He had a bad day". There was no news coverage about the victims, it was all about the shooter. It makes me so angry and afraid that the murders of 8 innocent people were handled like this. "I hate that racism against Asian people is so casual, racism in general in this country is so casual. We expect racists to be horrible monsters but they're really just everyday people. People don't think they are racist when they are doing racist things because they have that image in their head. I also hate that other people who are not Asian will speak over Asian people. If you are not Asian, you do not get to decide what is racist towards us. If we say it is racist, it is racist. "I hope that we can learn from what has happened. I thank our allies for fighting with us. We obviously still have a lot more work to do. Minorities shouldn't have to fight for their place in this country."
A Final Note.
If the virus came from Mexico, would they use it? If not, why? (I'd hope they'd answer in the negative), and if they wouldn't use the term "America virus", why would they not? And would they recognize the hypocrisy? And before they mention the term "Spanish flu", the alternative "1918 influenza pandemic" is in existence. Ciao.
Follow my Twitter: @SkylerSatterfi1
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