Diary of systemic injustice showcase
Corona virus has been around for over a full year now and there are many phenomenon’s of how it came about. One of the sources says that the Chinese and Asians made the virus. In a poll of over 1,195 people the results concluded that “a 57% majority of Americans describe the coronavirus pandemic as a natural disaster, 43% say they believe a particular organization or people is responsible. In response to an open-ended question, most in that group specified China, comprising nearly 1 in 4 of the total survey”. This statistic is insanely high, how can people just believe this without proof? There are so many questions that can be asked as to why and how? If you look at the virus it is in fact a lot like the flu. In a separate article that was posted by OSU it conducted an interview said that “It turned out that the stereotypes and beliefs that people already had about Asian Americans were more powerful in predicting stigmatization than other factors”. This statement goes well with our understanding of dangerous of a single story. When people only believe one side and don’t try and understand all perspectives things like this pandemic escalate.
Another
topic that helps us understand this even better and further our thinking is by tying this with the “otherness” we have been studying. Many people are treating a lot of Asian/Chinese people as the other because they are believed to have created this inconvenience and everyone hates them for that. As being an “other” they have not had the chance to try and rebuttal all these assumptions and acquisitions. It is as if the community has dehumanized them. People are concluding that the Chinese are the “others” and that Americans are better. There is a lot of hate right now that possibly started from a single source, that has now spread like a wildfire. The people who shot the house are believed to be troubled white men who have previously had an encounter with the police. This is discrimination and violence against all Chinese people, no matter where they came from or what they believe either.
Someone who is of a high authority like the example below who posted this when he was still the president, should not be one of the people to be spreading this rumor. This shows very low amount of respect for peolpe.
An experience that was
close to home was when a house in my fiancé’s neighborhood, about 6 houses down from him was shot by a firearm 17 times. The people that live there have been residence for many years and have never been known to have any enemies until they started to host and international student who happened to be from China. It was concluded that they were targeted for allowing the enemy to reside among them. I would consider this systemic injustice because of how these people are singled out and are being forced to take the blame for a virus that is global at this point and has no true origin that is definable. This not only makes it where certain people are against the Asian/Chinese community but the whole world has many of these type of people, nearly 50% that is quick to blame one community. Senate Mitch McConnel said that “Committing a crime against anyone because of his or her national origin or race is deeply wrong and antithetical to our founding principles”. This was addressed after another mass shooting that is seemed to be a hate crime against Asians. The impact of these people being shot at and being targeted shows, how much hate is in the world. It also strengthens the belief and the lie for blaming the virus on Chinese/Asian community. Allowing for this blasphemy strengthens the hate community and enforces their behaviors and actions against the Asian/Chinese community.
Works Cited
“Mitch McConnell Says Asian Americans ‘Should Not Have to Experience Discrimination.’” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, news.yahoo.com/mitch-mcconnell-says-asian-americans-211838977.html.
Page, Susan. Exclusive: 43% of Americans Say a Specific Organization or People to Blame for COVID-19, USA Today , 22 Mar. 2021, 9:00AM, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/exclusive-1-in-4-americans-have-seen-asians-blamed-for-the-coronavirus-in-recent-weeks/ar-BB1eO5ig#image=BB1eOf9N|4.
The Ohio State University. Study Reveals Why Some Blame Asian Americans for COVID-19, The Ohio State University, 23 Oct. 2020, news.osu.edu/study-reveals-why-some-blame-asian-americans-for-covid-19/.
“Trump Defends Calling Coronavirus ‘Chinese Virus’ Because It ‘Came from China’ after ‘WH Official Calls It Kung Flu’ – The Sun.” Hot Fashion News, 18 Mar. 2020, hotfashionnews.com/world-news/trump-defends-calling-coronavirus-chinese-virus-because-it-came-from-china-after-wh-official-calls-it-kung-flu-the-sun/.
Wow! Awesome post. I think this is an excellent way to open people’s eyes to the recent mistreatment of Asian Americans. I have noticed that the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic brought with it great amounts of Asian American hate. In addition to the former president’s tweets, there have been many other Americans who have spread hate amongst many forms of social media sites. The recent shootings in Atlanta, Georgia are yet another example of this hate that is be brought upon many Asian Americans. I think you did a great job supporting this argument and I agree, something must change.
This a great post which does an excellent job of showing the recently heightened mistreatment of Asian Americans. The personal story of your neighbor added a level of realness to the story, making it so this injustice and its severity can be better understood. I agree with your message of change, and appreciate the message within this post.
Well done! This post contains great examples of “one story” and “otherness”, as well as an application to current news. I wrote my final Diary of Systemic Injustice on the shooting in Atlanta and the public/ law enforcement responses, which is another example that fits into your post. The personal story that you shared in regards to the Chinese international student is very upsetting. The amount of hatred, fueled by these systemic injustices and discrimination, are definitely out of hand and I also agree/ hope that we will witness change in action.
This is a great exploration of a systemic injustice. The level of personability that you added to the story was really helpful in understanding the impacts of this particular injustice. I also appreciated your connection to the concept of the other from class, which tied in really well.
Very insightful post Kim. I appreciate how you were able to take an event that is so current in our society and highlight an issue within that is a systemic injustice, as well as describes something we have learned in class this semester. As I read your post, not only do I agree with you that many Asians have been seen as an “Other”, but also I think as a subaltern too. Americans have made it almost impossible for the Asian community to say anything from their perspective, America has completely silenced these individuals and has taken away their voice, leaving them voiceless and unable to stand up for themselves.
Hi Kim! This is an incredibly important topic and a really great post! I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your fiancé’s neighbors. It’s crucial to be raising awareness about events like these, because despite everything that has been going on we really aren’t seeing nearly enough coverage in the media about these attacks on Asian Americans and Asian individuals in America. This is a really insightful post!
Great post! I think the way how you presented both research as well as a personal example really helped me to get a complete grasp on this topic. The part in your post where you discuss the alarmingly high percentage of people who believe something without any sort of evidence really drives home your point. People who feel/believe these things to begin with are ignorant, but to do so with nothing to back up their opinion is unbelievable.