An example of systematic injustices that we are seeing currently is the increased frequency of attacks on Asian Americans. While racism has existed in America throughout its’ history, attacks on Asian American people has increased significantly within the last year as a result of COVID-19. Our government did not handle this pandemic as well as it could’ve, but due to a combination of racism and sometimes blind patriotism it has proven very hard as a country to accept our own failures. Instead, many individuals have been looking elsewhere to place the blame. Because the virus may have begun in China, this has generated an incredibly dangerous environment for Asian individuals in this country. Over the last year, countless attacks have taken place, largely uncovered by the media. Things proved to have gotten significantly worse just over a week ago, when eight individuals (six of which were Asian women) were left dead after a man opened fire in an Atlanta spa.
These attacks in themselves are an injustice, spurred on by systematic racism in America, but the lack of media attention alone is very telling. Had it been white individuals being attacked, it is not hard to guess that these stories would be all over the news. Every day we hear stories about white victims of both major and minor crimes. However, it was not until a major public shooting occurred that I saw anything consistent in the media about these increased attacks on Asian Americans. Because America is systematically racist, it does not want to face news that confirms that fact. And so, events like these are sadly under reported.
Earlier this spring, we learned the concet of a “single story” as described by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. While she was referring primarily to the story Americans and Europeans hold of Africa and its’ nations, this concept also applies to the biases we hold for ourselves as well. The media in America only consistently covers the news they believe the public wants to hear. As a result, we see many stories every day that perpetuate systematic racism and covers up the tragic results. White children grow up in America being taught one single story: that America is the best country in the world. We grow up believing that we are the land of the free and that everyone is incredibly lucky to be here. We learn very little of America’s truths; of how we actually treated the native people when we arrived on this continent and how we’ve continued to treat minorities ever since. Only by breaking through this single vision we have of America can we begin to contribute to its’ growth. As Americans, it is our job to keep ourselves aware of what really happens in our country, especially if we dream of one day eliminating these systematic injustices all together.