No tags yet.
Image by Yichuan Cao—Sipa USA via https://time.com/5797836/coronavirus-racism-stereotypes-attacks/
For the past few months, the world has been turned upside down by COVID-19. As of now, the virus has infected almost 5.7 million people around the world, and this number is still rising as we speak. However, amidst the chaos to control this critical health crisis, one particular “side effect” has been overlooked, and that is the blatant and outrageous anti-Asian discrimination that has erupted in many countries following sharp increases in the number of cases worldwide. I’m writing this because many, many incidents that have occurred over the past 5 months have not been getting nearly enough attention.
In 2015, the World Health Organization changed the naming of diseases from its geographical origin to the nature of the cause for one simple reason: to reduce stigma. However, you’d be lying to yourself if you say that you haven’t heard COVID-19 being referred to as the “Wuhan Virus”, or as Trump calls it, the “Chinese Virus”. To some, the pandemic is the perfect outlet for their suppressed loathing towards the Asian race; while for others, their fear of catching the virus has spiked irrational prejudices towards all people of East Asian descent.
Saying “you dirty Chinese” to Asian-American doctors who are fighting on the frontline, risking their lives to save many others’ lives, is unacceptable. It is ridiculously disgusting. So is pouring water on a Chinese student on the sidewalk of New York City, and yelling at Asian restaurant owners to “get out of our country”. Choosing not to wear a mask yourself does not give you the right to violently attack somebody else for doing so. Blaming Asians for bringing the virus to a country, and then repeatedly congregating in public settings despite the warnings by the Government is absurdly hypocritical. The story of a White House official referring to the virus as the “Kung-Flu” is not exactly helping the situation either, but it only works to unfairly attack and label Asian-Americans as disease carriers.
For the hundreds of thousands of Asian-American immigrants in the US, who have worked and fought so hard to integrate into the communities around them, the direct hostility is more than just simple humiliation, it is also their worst fear becoming true: that no matter how much they try, they will never be truly accepted as a part of the community. As much as some had hoped that the pandemic would call for the unity of humankind, it has so far only worked to divide the society and unveil the deep-rooted ignorance that has been long disregarded.
The stories above are not isolated, one-time incidents, but rather continuous forms of sheer discrimination that occur not only in the US, but also across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. This is why action is needed. All of it needs to stop now - racism and xenophobia never were, and never will be justified. Preceding an offensive statement with “no offence” or just following “someone else’s lead” does not make it any better, in fact, it is worse because it contributes to normalizing bigotry in our society.
Perhaps you are not discriminatory yourself, but just as Martin Luther King Jr. has once said, “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”. I am beyond proud of my Asian heritage, but that does not stop me from feeling saddened, heartbroken, and indignant of the situation. Ironically, this month is also the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in the United States. At this crucial point in history, let us work towards solidarity and oneness. Let us not silently watch the waves of discrimination as they intensify, but instead use them as opportunities to talk openly about and stand against them.
#WashTheHate #Don’tBeAfraid