Asian Discrimination During the Pandemic

Team member: Xinyi Li (li.10890), Wenyu Zhong(zhong.413) and Yueming Zhong(zhong.517)

Transcript:

Xinyi Li: So today, we are here to discuss Asian discrimination, especially during the pandemic. Before we start, I would like to introduce my peers Wenyu and Yueming, who are both international students from China. We will share our personal experience regarding racism and discrimination we face during the pandemic. First, let me go over the basic definition of discrimination/racism and the pandemic role here. “Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex,” and racism is a subcategory under discrimination that target people based on their race. Why is COVID-19 related to Asian discrimination? It was first reported in Wuhan, China. In the beginning stages, people and the government didn’t pay too much attention to it. Thus, the disease spread through China and the neighboring countries, and eventually the whole world. Since it was first reported in China, some social media and hateful comments are called COVID-19 “Wuhan lung disease” or “China virus.” People who are not familiar with Coronavirus and Asian culture are easily influenced by social media to blame Asians for the damage that is not any race or country’s fault. Research shows that there is no proof that Asian people are more likely to catch the disease or spread it, comparing to any other race. Instead, Asians are more aware of the disease’s significance and wear masks to protect themselves, thus making them less likely to be infected. Besides, during February and March, many people in the United States didn’t believe in wearing masks is effective. Also, the CDC even encouraged people not to wear masks. Therefore, there was a huge mask-discrimination. Our purpose today for the podcast is to raise people’s awareness of the current racial issues, especially the problems of Asian discrimination, since there isn’t a lot of voice to stand up for them. We want to stop discrimination by educating the public. So, what is your experience or thoughts on Asian discrimination Wenyu and Yueming?

Yueming: I believe that you are saying the right thing. In fact, Asian Americans face a wave of intense racism during the past months of corona virus pandemic. Due to the deliberate use of terms like ‘Chinese virus’ without any scientific proof especially by the president, it has largely fanned the flames of racism towards Asian Americans in many states and has led to the emerging of racial act and violence. Additionally, I think that this event highlighted the ways in which immigrants have often been tied to disease and considered as an invasive threat which will ruin the United States. For example, immigrants from Ireland were blamed for cholera and Italians for polio, while Japanese and Mexicans were scorned for smallpox outbreaks. This shows a long-lasting racial discrimination and stereotypes towards immigrants which brought about many discriminatory public health restrictions that disproportionately influence immigrants and minority groups.

Wenyu: Yes, it is true that Coronavirus is closely related to China. China has been mentioned multiple times during this pandemic. People has gradually formed a stereotype to the Chinese people, even to all Asian-look people. It was reported that Asians becomes more excluded facing this situation. Some Asians got abused with no reasons just because their races. For example, two young Chinese students were shouted to get off the railway for they thought these two girls has “China virus”. Due to the huge gap between Eastern and western cultures, the quiet and restless character of Asian-Americans is naturally disadvantaged in the social environment, and Asian-Americans have also become the main target of discrimination and social injustice. Do you have any examples about the situation?

Examples/data:

Xinyi Li: Different races experienced discrimination and unfair treatment during the COVID-19 period because others think they are contaminated with Coronavirus, including Asians, African Americans, and Hispanic. Research indicates that 14% of Asians suffer discrimination from COVID-19, which is the highest compared to other minorities. I haven’t encountered racism directly towards me, but I have read the news and a picture of an Asian student who was beaten in London by several men who yelled, “get out of the country with your coronavirus.” I felt empathetic and angry toward the bully, and I even felt the physical pain. I didn’t know how bad Asians were treated unfairly until I saw the picture.

Another example was the story of my friend, who is a Chinese girl. This happened before CDC announced the importance of masks, and not many public places required masks. She called a uber, and the driver canceled her ride after seeing her as an Asian and wore a mask. Even though this didn’t involve physical or oral discrimination, my friend felt very bad.

Yueming: Except for the events you mentioned, according to a news from CNN, a Seattle resident Kari and her daughter who are Korean Americans were rejected to enter a local grocery store in Mid-April since the shopper considered them as “Asian virus carrier”, which made me feel sad. This incident is just one of thousands of racist actions that have been reported over the past several months and in some regions, things were even serious, for instance, some Chinese Americans were even abused and beaten by others for no reasons which is ridiculous.

Wenyu: According to ABC News, Asian-Americans are facing a range of risks and challenges as a result of the Covid-19. In addition to the risk of contracting the virus, there is the economic pressure of soaring unemployment, as well as racist attacks and harassment. Since late January, business in Chinatowns and Asian-American stores across the country has declined markedly. At a time when the U.S. economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, unemployment among Asians has worsened. Asian-Americans have long been among the groups with the lowest unemployment rates in the United States, but the unemployment rate among them soared to 14.3 percent in April from 2.1 percent a year earlier as the labor Department data showed. At the same time, the City’s Human Rights Commission saw a 92 percent jump in complaints of discrimination against Asian-Americans from February to April, compared with the same period last year.

Impact:

Xinyi Li: For many adults, dealing with discrimination results in a state of heightened vigilance and changes in behavior, which in itself can trigger stress responses, self-doubts, mental health issues, and a lack of sense of inclusion in the community. There are many international students who study in the United States since high school. Thus, they are even not adults when they encounter racism. The effects on them are more substantial comparing to adults because of their younger age. We want to convey the importance of eliminating Asian discrimination caused by false information related to the pandemic with Asians. While society advocates diversity, it is so ridiculous to be racists at the same time. Some parts of society need to be changed and educated. As an Asian, I should speak out for my race. Asians should not be ignored and stay in the gray zone, while other racial groups enjoy racial equality. Racial equality is for everyone. This is what I believe all the time.

Relatedness to the textbook

Yueming: This event can also well be associated with what we learned before. According to de Beauvoir, he believed that “Otherness” is a fundamental category of human thought (de Beauvoir, 1). Otherness is inevitable as people tend to judge and assume unfamiliar people and things based on their external characteristics and their stereotypical reflections within their original culture, which may definitely further lead to discrimination and ethnocentrism. As a citizen of one country, they may think of immigrants as a threat of harming themselves. I understand that racism and immigration issues are two long-lasting problems in the country which are hard to cope with. However, in terms of cov-19, I do believe that anti-Asian sentiments concerning Cov-19 can be greatly tampered if the government can see it in a scientific and objective way instead of judging and inciting it as the error of a specific group or country deliberately.

Wenyu: Coronavirus has been repeatedly described as “China virus” to politicize COVID-19. These comments have contributed to the rise of racist harassment and negatively affected the situation of Asian Americans. The racial discrimination resulted from pandemic will have a devastating generational impact on the lives of millions of People in the United States that may take decades to reverse. Indeed, while the Coronavirus may be able to stave off by isolating it and eventually developing a vaccine, the antidote to the “plague of the spirit” may be harder to find. If racial discrimination is to be truly addressed, all parties involved, including Us politicians, need to recognize the seriousness of the problem before it worsens. The US government needs to use legal weapons to strengthen the fight against hate crimes. Discriminatory words should be stopped using against Asian-Americans and Chinese Americans.

Xinyi Li: Another aspect related to what we learn in class is specific to The Leavers by Ko, which is about the story of a Chinese boy who was forced to be separated from his mother when he was only six years old because his mother is an illegal immigrant. He also received much misunderstanding since he lives in a white neighborhood outside New York with his foster family. Because of racism, he has difficulty finding his true identity, either as an American or an Asian. This ties back to the idea of Otherness. People of the marginalized group often feel being the outsiders in society, and we should all fight back against racism to make our community more inclusive.

Citation: Definition of Discrimination, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimi