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A Written Podcast by Nico Rarick, Haley Bullock, Ytien Pham, and Andrea Maynard.

Nico: It is difficult to imagine if you have not experienced it yourself, but take a moment to visualize being a target simply due to your race which is a part of yourself that you cannot change. Asians no longer feel safe being alone taking their daily walks because there is a potential chance that someone decides to hurt them. Imagine the feeling of isolation, where you no longer feel connected to society because it has decided that you no longer belong. You know you are not at fault for the spread of the pandemic, but because of their ignorance they continue to cause harm among your community, making a trip to the grocery store as dangerous as walking on a tightrope between two high rise buildings. Despite the pandemic being out of the Asian community’s control, Asians now feel like they have to warn their loved ones before they step outside to partake in daily tasks. It has only been recently that the government has incited reform in order to be more inclusive to AAPI (Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders). These changes, although still ongoing, have been the first steps towards ensuring that they are protected during a time when there are people who truly believe that they are the cause for the pandemic. In America, xenophobia has remained a prevalent issue that has remained intertwined in its history. This “Blame Game” has caused many to disregard the blatant insults that have been targeted to Asians throughout this pandemic which wrongfully upholds the ideology that committing violence against Asians would also mean the eradication of COVID-19. Overall, by making reforms in response to these events, taking the time to read reliable information, and understanding the problems with these hate crimes, we can do our part in helping the Asian community.

Haley: The initial spread of the Coronavirus has incited numerous counts of Asian hate crimes in its time-frame. The blame being placed on Asians has caused awareness to rise on the rampant spread of xenophobia. Although they are not at fault, this false narrative has escalated on social media. With the internet being a place where one can hide behind a screen, it is much easier for others to harshly discriminate and disrepute Asians beyond what is being done in accordance to hate crimes. However, this is not the first time in which xenophobic remarks have been commonuse on the internet. Not long ago in June 2020, during the Black Lives Matter Movement, Claire Janover had posted a video on her TikTok page in which she had commented on the issues with the All Lives Matter movement. In response to this video, she was sent disheartening messages. In an Insider article, “Uproar over her video, Janover said in a follow-up TikTok, led to a deluge of death threats, harassment, and racist comments” (Harris, 2020). This shows that it was not unusual to witness xenophobia to be used in response to statements that others do not agree with. It is not just in response to the pandemic, it has become a joke and a bad one at that. Countless memes and tweets have been made in response to this pandemic in blaming Asians which shows the gravity of this situation. While in office, Donald Trump was consistent in  calling the pandemic “The Chinese Virus” across news press conferences and across his twitter account. This then resulted in hate and backlash towards Asian-Americans although the information that China had created this virus had been debunked and proven wrong several times. Members of the younger generation of the Asian community have also faced hate that could potentially have a long term impact that negatively affects how they view themselves and their country. Many latch onto the idea that Asians are at fault for the severity of this pandemic as a way to cope although their ignorance has easily been proven wrong. 

Former President Trump Uses Offensive Rhetoric to Refer to the Coronavirus

Ytien: In light of the pandemic, these attacks on Asian-Americans have been crippling to the Asian community. Asian youth and elders have been targeted as a result of the blame placed on the Asian community which have caused them to become fearful throughout the duration of COVID-19. The violence against Asian-Americans has been disguised as justification for the creation and spread of the pandemic. However in reality, the pandemic has only highlighted the xenophobia that has run rampant long before this pandemic. It is not uncommon to witness the marginalization and discrimination directed to specific races during this current political climate, that had been intensified as a result of Donald Trump’s term. From inappropriate and insulting language regarded to Asians throughout this pandemic, there have been debates on whether what is happening to Asians is really acts of hate or simply a result of someone’s “bad day”. We can witness this in the recent shooting in Atlanta, Georgia where Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Xiaojie Tan, Hyun Jung Grant, Delaina Yuan, Paul Andre Michels, and Daoyou Feng lost their lives due to the assailant’s “bad day”. As stated in an article by the New York Times, “A sheriff’s deputy will no longer serve as his agency’s spokesman for the investigation into the Atlanta-area spa shootings after he drew criticism for saying that the suspect in the attacks had ‘a really bad day’ before the shootings, and for anti-Asian Facebook posts that he made last year” (Bogel-Burroughs, 2021).  Former president, Donald Trump, was not the first to be explicitly racist, however his high position only offered others the chance to do the same without regard for the dangerous narrative that it caused. The racist remarks and name-calling, and the fact that the virus had originated from an Asian country, the degradation and hate against Asian-Americans have significantly increased within the past year. The media coverage on these incidents do not fully showcase the fear that has embedded itself in all Asians in America. As these hate crimes are commonly not reported due to language barrier, and in response it is incredibly important to make efforts to make emergency lines available in their fluent language, whichever it may be.  Now that President Biden is in office, he has taken steps to approach this topic and do what he can for the Asian community. In his statement he addressed, “The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin.  Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons” (The White House, 2021). President Biden announced that “the subcommittee will lead policy sprints to develop actionable recommendations for advancing cultural competency, language access, and inclusion towards Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders as the United States ends and recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic” (The White House, 2021). These crimes against Asian-Americans are correlated to the xenophobia that has lived discreetly in this country, and it is time for society to acknowledge that there is a community that needs help and support because they have been overlooked for a long time. It is also important to not overlook the value of reliable information during a time when a worldwide pandemic and its unfavorable effects have been placed on the shoulders of all Asians. This blame does not absolve the fact that we have to do what we can to keep ourselves and others safe by taking necessary precautions.

Andrea:  These violent hate crimes committed against the Asian community have been occurring over years, but as of late, the older generation of Asians have been targeted most severely. Recently, an 84 year old Thai man was murdered in San Francisco, a 64 year old Vietnamese woman robbed of her Lunar New Years’ money, and a 65 year old Filipino woman beaten in New York. These are only a few incidents out of the hundreds this year which have been reported and deemed as racially motivated. Recently watching an interview with Olivia Munn on MSNBC, she addresses the fearfulness that Asians have had throughout the pandemic and that oftentimes, Asians are expected to “be quiet and not be disruptive” in order to maintain the peace. Munn states that the Asian community is enduring a “mental health crisis” while also living in fear of being attacked due to the misconception that being Asian also meant being the source of the coronavirus (Munn, 2021). With the harmful rhetoric of “The Chinese Virus” and the “The Kung Flu”, it is sadly not surprising to see that this issue has maintained longevity in the duration of the pandemic. Asian-Americans are not being heard and they are crying out for people to understand that they are not the issue and are not the ones that have created nor spread this virus. We need to stand together as Americans and fight against these hate crimes, it is not enough to express discontent with these events but rather to incentivize others to understand the history of xenophobia, the harm it causes, and how to protect those in the Asian community as it is difficult to protect themselves as they are the targets.

Nico: In the past year, the violent attacks towards the Asian community have risen significantly and these incidents have all been racially motivated. Through the negative narrative being spread along social media and the ignorance reflected in the rhetoric used by former president, Donald Trump, it is simple to see the harm it has caused for the Asian community. The deep rooted effects left on the Asian population from social media enforced beliefs that have forced the elderly to be fearful and dehumanized and the youth to feel unprotected and misunderstood. The xenophobia that has existed prior to the pandemic has only been highlighted due to the origin of the coronavirus, but it also highlights the failure of others in trying to understand that the pandemic was a circumstance that the Asian community could not control. The United States has proclaimed equality and liberty for all, yet our society has not fulfilled these goals in regards to the Asian community. Many join with those who support these violent acts to avoid being targeted themselves, or stay silent on these issues to avoid confrontation or to excuse their lack of support shown towards Asians. To start change, society needs to fight for the Asian community and become vocal in these issues to spread awareness against Asian hate, and remain united in order to overcome the hate and degradation the Asian community has been enduring. Although reform is beginning to appear in government, there needs to be a societal understanding of the history of xenophobia and what we all can do to make sure that discrimination is not allowed to fester even further.

“Asians Are Not Viruses, Racism Is.”

Works Cited:

Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas, et al. “8 Dead in Atlanta Spa Shootings, With Fears of Anti-Asian Bias.” The New York Times, 26 March 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth#bad-day-captain-jay-baker-atlanta.

Harris, Margot. “A college student says she lost her internship after posting a satirical TikTok video criticizing ‘All Lives Matter’ statements.” Insider, 2 July 2020, https://www.insider.com/college-student-deloitte-internship-anti-all-lives-matter-tiktok-2020-7.

The White House. “FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Additional Actions to Respond to Anti-Asian Violence, Xenophobia and Bias.” The White House, The United States Government, 30 March 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-additional-actions-to-respond-to-anti-asian-violence-xenophobia-and-bias/.

MSNBC. “Olivia Munn: We ‘Are Living In A Country That Is Attacking Us Simply For Just Being Us’ | Deadline.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Mar. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcllJFcgNI0. 

Podcast By : Sabrina Maghes and Jacob Bolander

Yo, Is This… Racist (Police Brutality)

Written Transcript:

Jacob Bolander   

Sabrina Maghes

Sabrina: 00:23:30 Hi, I’m Sabrina Maghes I’m a first year undergrad student, and I’m joined on the podcast today by my co host.

Jacob: I’m Jacob Bolander, I’m a second year undergraduate student.

00:23:42 And this is our podcast on systemic racism regarding police brutality in America.

Sabrina: 00:23:50 Police Brutality has affected people of color in a variety of ways. A lot of the ones that we will be talking about today are irrational shootings, racial profiling, false assumptions, and the corrupt protection of police officers in the legal system.

00:24:06 There’s so many other things that we could be talking about today but these are the ones that we heavily focused on in our systemic injustices

Jacob: 00:24:31 yeah I definitely agree there’s a lot of other things we could be talking about but these are the ones we decided to focus on for this podcast specifically.

00:24:43 I want to talk about the racially profiling that occurs in our society. Racially profiling happens all the time and I’m sure many of you guys listening have either witnessed it on TV or heard it on the radio or even seen it happen in person.

00:25:04 And this racial profiling occurs daily and it’s what contributes to many, like I said, news stories that we witness.

00:25:35 Some examples that you may have seen and that really show racially profiling, are people wearing their hoodies up and make thinking that that means something when it doesn’t.

00:25:48 Having a hand in pocket and thinking that there may be a gun in there whenever reality it’s a cell phone, or even broad enough to just someone’s skin color and thinking that, that means they’re going to do something which is never going to be the case.

00:26:04 a prime example of that I’ve personally seen of this.

00:26:17 I don’t know about you Sabrina but I’ve seen news stories about his name is Casey Goodson Jr.

Sabrina: 00:26:25 Yeah, so I did hear about this especially living in Columbus now that I’m an Ohio State student Casey Goodson Jr. was a Columbus resident who was leaving a dentist appointment and he was just driving home and an officer with the last name mead said

00:26:44 that Casey drove by him and waved a hand gun out the window which he took it as threatening . He followed Casey home and ended up shooting him three times in the back while Casye walked into the side door of his house.

00:27:00 It turns out that it was Subway sandwiches in Casey’s hands

00:27:07 What Mean saw was a black man wirh something in his hand and he assumed that this was a gun in the examples that Jacob gave your clothing a hoodie, something in your hand should not be a reason to be shot three times especially at your home.

00:27:26 The steps there should be like other steps in between that, it’s extremely disheartening to know that someone could just be trying to go home and take Subway sandwiches to his family and like his life is threatened just because of the color of his skin,

00:27:42 So it’s extremely wild to me that it’s happening in like the places that we live in, it’s becoming not only reoccurring across the country like we’ve seen throughout the past year, but now its Franklin County police the same

00:27:57 police that we see on campus are also responsible for something so horrifying.

Jacob: 00:28:07 Yeah, for sure, um, to go off of that. 100% agree with you. When you look into the case and you really see that you know he was shot, and it’s… shot because he was holding a sandwich is just, you know, mind baffling, and the fact of

00:28:28 that someone truly racially profiled Casey that much to believe that it was a weapon or, you know, I don’t really know what was going through the police officers mind but something that made him feel threatened when it’s a piece of food right.

00:28:44 Um, and then, you know, when you read the story you see that when he got to the door his grandma was there at the door, and she’s calling 911 saying I don’t know what to do I don’t know if he’s all right.

00:28:59 And, you know, she thought it was another normal day, you know he’s bringing home food coming from an appointment. And the next thing she knows is her grandson was just shot and later died

00:29:45 And to me, this is one of the prime examples that I’ve seen of racially profiling

00:30:11 And to move into the next subject.

00:30:17 that connects in a big way is irrational shootings and false assumptions.

00:30:20 And it kind of same thing but it’s also different in the sense you know racially profiling is based on the way someone looks but or what they’re wearing or like you said, but irrational shootings and false assumptions kind of fall into, you know, police officers

00:30:38 think one thing when in reality means something completely different, that they may have took you seriously

00:30:55 And two of these examples that I personally researched a lot and took interest in were Tyre King and Andre Hill

00:30:56 So to start off with Tyre King was a 13 year old teenager.

00:31:22 He was called upon by someone in neighborhood where the police officers ended up showing up and

00:31:14 basically King was apparently holding a guy trying to get money from him, which ended up being around $10, and Mason came to the scene, tried to take King into custody and when he was doing that.

00:31:28 He believed he saw King have a loaded handgun being pulled out of King’s waist and so Mason shot him three multiple times and King later died in the hospital but as evidence came out, it was shown that King in reality.

00:31:46 In reality, it was a BB gun or airsoft gun.

00:31:58 So this is, you know, a prime example of false, false assumptions and irrational shootings because he thought he was his, Mason, the police officer thought his life was in danger when in reality.

00:32:12 Nothing really would have happened that would have been anything substantial. And this led to a  13 year old boys teenage life was taken because of it.

00:32:23 I don’t know if you have anything touch on the subject or if you’ve done research yourself.

Sabrina: 00:32:28 His whole life like basically was ahead of him and it is mind boggling that as someone who is supposed to like protect the community.

00:32:38 Didn’t like think to really analyze the situation like is this actually a real gun or is this like a fake toy and it was a 13 year old so the odds of him having a real gun were almost like a lot less likely so if the police officer took

00:32:55 the time to really analyze like what was in his hand. His life probably wouldn’t have ended the way that it did and the situation could have been handled a lot differently.

00:33:05 his reaction cost someone a life and it wasn’t justified at all.

00:33:27 He sees someone of color, he assumes that that gun has to be real.

00:33:32 so again this is a grown man versus 13 year old. It’s another unfortunate situation

00:33:48 that is happening because of a system that isn’t being held accountable.

Jacob: 00:33:53 Yeah, for sure and to off that like you were saying, you know, its a man versus a boy right, so there could have been so many different ways that was taken instead of shooting them multiple times and he would still be here today, like you said, having his whole life ahead of him hes 13.

00:34:22 Another person that ties into the same type of concept is Andre Hill and Andre Hill was an unarmed black man, and he was killed by officer Adam Coy.

00:34:37 this really sparked my interest because, as I was reading through it

00:34:45 coy when he did the killing.

00:34:58 Um, he didn’t have his body came on, which, you know, as you probably know, as a police officer that’s kind of a substantial thing is that your body came on so people can see what went down, if it was justified.

00:35:08 So that not being on really sparks suspicion from me, everyone around Hill’s family.

00:35:25 It comes back to the point of he was unarmed. So,

00:35:24 it’s just really hard to see that his life got taken when he did not pose a threat.

00:35:45 And that seems like a lot of what’s happening in our world today with not just Coy but police officers all around the nation.

Sabrina: 00:35:59 This takes me at least into the next point which like these police officers that are committing these unlawful and horrible acts are now being protected to the furthest degree that they can be by the system.

00:36:14 In a lot of cases they’re either getting extra time to come up with a better case, they’re having the best attorneys to protect them so that they can get out of being punished 

00:36:35 I mean, police officers are paid by the government and they, they’re like, counterparts are the is the law system, so they know people and they’re given better treatment than the people’s families or the people that have been affected or killed by police

00:36:51 officers because of like the standings that they have. A prime example of this is Rashard Brooks. He was a black man that was in his car, in the Wendy’s parking lot line.

00:37:02 He was sitting in the car. He had fell asleep in the Wendy’s drive through line and Wendy’s workers had called the police to come check it out

00:37:08 To see what was holding up the line. And basically, the police officer had a 30 minute conversation with this guy, he was tired, they think he was intoxicated, it’s been going back and forth, but they had a 30 minute civil conversation.

00:37:31 And then the police officer asked him to get out of his car and when he did this

00:37:31 Rashard supposedly reached back into his car for something. The police officer right away without actually seeing what he was doing assumed that he had a weapon, and he shot Rashard in the back multiple times and killed him.

00:37:56 he asked for better protection and more time for his case so that he can like advocate for himself, and he was granted this in the state of Georgia, they gave him more time to fight and Rashard is

00:38:14 now dead and can’t even fight for himself so  being held accountable. So these police officers are doing things and because they’re not being held accountable.

00:38:25 It’s almost like enabling them to do it again because they’re not as scared, they’re not being held accountable for their actions.

00:38:36 It’s another case that we’ve seen George Floyd happened May of 2020 and it’s March of 2021, and there’s still not anybody that has been put behind bars. It’s really disheartening to see

00:38:53 how the system is protecting people who are doing such bad just because of the badges that they wear.

Jacob: 00:39:00 Yeah, no, I definitely agree with that, um, one of the main things I took away from that as the word accountability, um, a lot of this stems from the fact that, you know, the police.

00:39:10 They don’t want to take accountability for what they did, they believe they can get out of it. They believe that other people will take their side when it’s, you know, it’s not verified at all.

00:39:21 And they just don’t want to admit to the fact that they were wrong. They, they did something that should never have happened and caused pain to so many other people around. Not just the families, you know, of course,

00:39:35 But everyone around the world you know you when you read the story you kind of feel for them you, you feel sympathy you wish it didn’t happen and the police officers you know just feel as though they can get this protection and get out of it

00:39:50 clean when.

00:39:52 A lot of times, you know, they did something wrong and they shouldn’t get out clean for what happened and they should be able to face the consequences and prosecutions

00:40:07 The fact that police officers can get out of this when a normal person wouldn’t and would be in there for a long long time kind of goes into our main point which is, You know, this being a

00:40:22 corrupt system and contributing a lot to systemic racism.

Sabrina: 00:40:28 That’s about it for today, basically, just to wrap it up this is a problem that’s happening all across the country that’s why it’s systemic that’s why we chose it for systemic injustices. It’s not just Columbus it’s across the entire country

00:40:43 and police brutality is still something that we’re seeing every single day and it’s not being treated the way that it should be.

Jacob: 00:40:50 Yeah.

00:40:52 Like she said thank you thank you to all of you listening.

https://osu.zoom.us/rec/share/GlkJZbAvOGxTkkqVYgKz_dhZGzZUbLxOmgGOgqMUDcwbnMnRX9L-yiThsGQTT3gH.aTZKFa0CDvKzsEaD?startTime=1617459502000

Works Cited

Kaplan, Emily. “U.S. Women’s Soccer Equal Pay Fight: What’s the Latest, and What’s next?” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 9 Nov. 2019, www.espn.com/sports/soccer/story/_/id/27175927/us-women-soccer-equal-pay-fight-latest-next.

ATLANTA — After shooting and killing eight people on March 16 across three spas, six of whom were Asian women, Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker’s statement of “He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” towards suspect Robert Aaron Long incited rage and disappointment among the AAPI community. 

Sadly, this attitude of trying to humanize the perpetrator and minimizing the impact on the victims, their families, and on a broader scale the community isn’t a foreign concept throughout the history of the AAPI community or of minorities in the United States. This tragic shooting, as well as the sharp increase in hate crimes committed towards Asians and Asian Americans all contribute towards the systemic injustice and racism felt for many years.

 NBC News reported a nearly 150% increase in hate crimes targeting Asians in 16 of America’s largest cities alone for 2020. Disregarding the fact that these hate crimes only included those that were reported to law enforcement, that is a significant jump in the span of one year. Although these crimes have been increasingly brought to the public’s attention, these attacks that have happened during the COVID pandemic really highlight the underlying racism and ill-will towards the AAPI community that has been churning for decades. 

Historic instances of systemic injustice can be seen from laws passed that explicitly prevented Asian immigration to America dating back to acts such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924. Despite the Chinese only occupying 0.002 percent of the population at the time in 1882, “white ‘racial purity’”(History.com) was protected. Chinese immigration was prohibited for a decade, and despite protests at the unconstitutionality of the act nothing was done. The Immigration Act of 1924 expanded upon the previous act by restricting immigration from all of Asia. Another more well known historic instance would be the forced move of anyone with Japanese descent into internment camps during WWII. According to History.com, more than 100,000 were affected by the internment, many of whom were American citizens. Life in the internment camps was tough with harsh conditions, and anyone who tried to escape would be shot.

 As previously stated, the rise of COVID also brought forth a rise in hate crimes and violence towards the AAPI community with an increased focus on elders such as a 91-year old grandpa being shoved to the ground by his 28 year old attacker in Oakland, CA. Another violent attack killed 84-year old Vicha Ratanapakdee, who passed away from his injuries in the hospital after being rammed and knocked into the ground.

Through these many instances, there is a distinct us vs. them, deliberate Othering towards Asians and Asian Americans. The victims are thought of as outsiders, the Other that needs to be put down. Placing those of Asian ethnicity in the position of Other, there seems to be the mindset that they are therefore disposable or susceptible to enforce racism upon. The attackers chose to assault elders, knowing they couldn’t retaliate or fight back. As elders, the physical violence would also leave a greater impact on the victims compared to someone in their twenties. 

The attackers often act fast and quickly flee the scene, with many of them much younger in age compared to their older victims. Through these actions a sense of superiority of the One can be seen. Seeing these younger attackers raises the question of how ingrained is systemic racism and injustice in America’s culture? What do these attackers hope to achieve through their violent, hate-filled crimes? While America might boast on its improvements on racism and ideals that as one of the most diverse countries everyone is equal, how far has the US really come on issues such as system injustice and racism when its young citizens are purposely targeting the elders of an ethnic minority?

Returning to Sheriff Jay Baker, in addition to the insensitive comments made, it was later discovered that he had bought and promoted racist shirts that had “IMPORTED VIRUS FROM CHY-NA.” written on them on Facebook. With comments like “Love my shirt,” and “Get yours while they last.” coupled with the comments on the Atlanta shooting show a high likelihood of racism in his words and actions. If law enforcement officers are allowed to promote products that point towards racism with no apparent consequences, then this might further support the fact that systemic injustice towards the AAPI community has been ingrained in the American culture and by extension perhaps even the justice and law enforcement of the US.

A common insult hurled at those with Asian ethnicity is “Go back to China” whether during verbal attacks along streets or even playground bullying in school. This highlights multiple issues. First, that this phrase has become normalized as an insult and is frequently used, pointing towards the deeply rooted belief of perceiving those who look “Asian” as the Other. Second, the words show how those of Asian descent do not look like what is believed to be “American” and therefore don’t belong in this country regardless of their background or situation. If that is the case, then the question must be asked: what should an “American” look like, in a country that prides itself on being a “melting pot”? Third, this statement reveals the ignorance towards the fact that there are multiple Asian countries and cultures and assume everyone who might look Asian is from China. 

Previously those types of comments might have been brushed off or ignored, however, with the rise in violence and deliberate victim targeting, these so called “casual comments” of casual racism are becoming more widely critiqued and examined under a magnifying glass. Protests against AAPI hate are popping up in large numbers, with slogans such as “#stop Asian hate”, and “Asians are not a virus. Racism is”. 

Traditionally, the AAPI community is relatively low-key, with hate crimes going unreported, or a general sense of staying quiet, laying low, and minding your own business. The history of racism and bigotry towards Asians and Asian Americans in American history is usually brushed over in classes in the education system. Generally, very little attention has been given to this entire community whether through school or in news and media in the past.

Nowadays, the dangers of being attacked have risen to the point of Asian communities forming volunteer patrol groups around Chinatowns or neighborhoods with a large population of AAPI such as San Francisco. It’s saddening to see Americans protecting themselves against fellow Americans who believe themselves to be superior due to external appearances or other circumstances. The heightened fear and cautiousness of an entire community underlines the divide among Americans, something that has been highlighted with other recent events such as the COVID pandemic and the 2020 election. 

When Trump was calling the coronavirus the “China virus” and “Kung-flu” while he was the president of the United States, some dismissed the racism of his names or the potential damage those words would bring. Nevertheless, Trump’s caustic attitude set the precedent and an example for others to follow, particularly his fervent followers and supporters. If the President was using these terms, didn’t that mean it was ok for others to use them as well? The President represents their country, and all of their actions will have a reverberating effect on the citizens of their nation. Ultimately, the deniers were proven wrong as racism across the country spiked. Words contain power, and power will propel people into action. As white supremacy and white nationalism grew, hate towards the AAPI community and other ethnicities grew as well. 

Many times words have simply been dismissed as just words, or just a slip of the tongue, but over time these “slips of the tongue” take on meaning and direction. In this age of social media, one phrase can be reshared millions of times in seconds, one quote can spread to multiple countries. Now, over a year into the pandemic reaching the US, and almost 3,800 hate incidents reported by the group Stop AAPI Hate later, things have reached a boiling state. 

In spite of all the negative consequences, the actions of the past year has brought the previously more sidelined issue of systemic injustice towards the AAPI community in America into the forefront and into the public’s view. Prior to 2020, some people weren’t even aware of the racism and issues that the community faces on a day-to-day basis which have been highlighted through the much more public acts of violence and attacks against those of Asian ethnicity. While there is still a long way to go in terms of eradicating systemic injustice in America for the AAPI community, peaceful protests, increased content/media coverage and an increase in the willingness to learn about these issues can help push forward and take a step towards progress. What’s certain is that the AAPI community is here to stay, and is willing to speak up and out. 

Works Cited:

Yam, Kimmy. “Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Increased by Nearly 150% in 2020, Mostly in N.Y. and L.A., New Report Says.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 Mar. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/anti-asian-hate-crimes-increased-nearly-150-2020-mostly-n-n1260264.

History.com Staff. (2018, August 24). Chinese exclusion Act. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/chinese-exclusion-act-1882

30, F., 29, F., 28, J., 24, C., 21, D., 13, R., . . . 25, F. (n.d.). PolitiFact – hate crimes against Asian Americans: What the numbers show, and don’t. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/mar/19/hate-crimes-against-asian-americans-what-numbers-s/

CBS San Francisco. (2021, February 01). Surveillance video Shows BRUTAL San Francisco assault that fatally Injured 84-Year-Old Man. Retrieved April 05, 2021, from https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/02/01/video-surveillance-footage-shows-brutal-san-francisco-assault-that-critically-injured-84-year-old-man/

Hello everyone. My name is Peyton Herman and today’s podcast episode is going to be about systemic injustices. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been doing diary entries talking about systematic injustices, and how necessarily they make us feel and others feel. And I feel like over these past couple of weeks, they have made us really realize what goes on in the world. But it has also opened my eyes to kind of see what has been taking place in the world along with even you know, our personal lives and around the world today. So I want to tap into a couple of things that I wrote about over the past couple of weeks during these diary entries that I feel are super important to touch on some things, you know, that we sometimes overlook, and some things that I feel like weren’t easily resolved. So the first injustice that I’m going to be talking about is the one that I found interesting throughout the couple of weeks that we were taking diaries, and it is the school dress code with girls around the world. Even in middle schools in our country, I see this take place a lot, even from personal experience. I feel as though school dress code with girls has been somewhat degrading for girls, whether that’s leggings, or spaghetti strap tank tops, everything seems to be an issue with what girls can wear in schools today. When we look at the strict dress code, with girls prominently in middle schools, you see the boys dress code where they can wear shorts freely, they can wear white beater tank tops, freely, and they don’t feel any type of pressure as to what they should wear when getting up in the morning. While as girls can’t be comfortable in leggings, or in tank tops that they feel comfortable in. It’s always this pressure of what am I going to wear today, and if I’ll be dress coded, what is going to happen to me if I wear this. Not only does this take place in the United States, it takes place all around the world, really with women’s dress code. I remember one of our neighbors at the time of family, the father of the household had a job in Saudi Arabia that they were going back and forth from Ohio to Saudi Arabia, and the mom of the household because they had two sons, the mom of the household had to cover herself to not be too distracting or revealing to men, and necessarily that’s taking away a woman’s rights. Now in middle school, when I was 13 to 14 years old, I didn’t really think about my rights being stripped away from me, I just saw it as I can’t wear this because my principal said so, you know, thinking back to it when I’m 20, 21 years old, that was my rights being taken away from me, and fearing of what I could wear and what I couldn’t wear. And those were rights being taken away from a girl and a woman during that time. I believe every girl has an experience of this,  a personal experience from this, where they can say that they’re not allowed to wear that certain top because it shows too much shoulder and that may distract a boy. Well, I never knew that my shoulder would distract a boy in middle school. That just seems ridiculous. From a personal experience of mine, I remember I was sitting in the cafeteria in middle school and one of my friends she was wearing leggings that day. She didn’t feel good and she just wanted to be comfortable. And I remember that the assistant principal of the school she she was a woman also, she pulled her up on stage. And she made an announcement to the cafeteria at the time and said, This is what you don’t wear to school. I remember that happening. And I just remember the embarrassment that was written on my friend’s face and I couldn’t believe that they actually brought her onto the stage to humiliate her in front of all of my classmates. While also having a personal experience of my own. I also wanted to do some research on the topic when creating my diary for the week. So while doing more research on the topic of strict dress codes in school and seeing what else was out there regarding other schools, I found an article speaking on dress code, including race and gender. And this is what the article had said, these rules aren’t neutral. Many target girls and especially black girls by regulating skirt length and head wraps a report on school dress code in the District of Columbia that was compiled by the National Women’s Law Center states and the rules aren’t applied equally either. Students report that black girls are especially curvier students, and are disproportionately targeted. This is no longer a topic of conversation with just gender. This is now involving race with clothing choices with girls in schools. This is honestly taking the creativity away in students and the freedom of choices and clothing. And honestly, it’s from personal experience. It’s the worst thing ever because sometimes clothing is your creativity while being in school, whether that’s with crazy socks or wearing leggings, or even a fun spaghetti strap tank top. It’s all about being yourself in schools and that shouldn’t be taken away from girls. The next systemic injustice that I’m going to be speaking about is another personal, hitting home one. It’s one that is not easily resolved and I believe that this is something that a lot of people can relate to when they have elderly grandparents. I believe

Unknown Speaker  5:00

This topic isn’t easily resolved because it is involving the medical field in nursing homes. So sometimes this can be a very touchy subject to some people. And sometimes people just don’t really understand or really notice or do the research on these type of things that happen in nursing homes or in the medical field. So the systematic injustice that I’m speaking about that tends to not easily be resolved is Alzheimer patients and abuse. I see this take place, whether it’s on the news, or actually, I’ve often found a lot of information through my mom, because it is my grandpa, who is 80 years old, that was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and he’s been battling the continued disease for around three to four years. I can honestly tell you before three to four years ago, when my grandpa got diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, I wasn’t really too in-tuned with the disease at all, I didn’t really know or have any information about Alzheimer’s or dementia. So when I started to learn more information from my mom, because it is her dad, or even just watching my grandpa throughout the years, and his memory kind of dwindle away, it is a severe disease. So when you start thinking about an even more severe patient in a nursing home, where there could be possibly abuse going on, when you have a severe patient, that typically means that the patient has no memory whatsoever, and they tend to forget things very quickly. So that’s typically when abuse tends to happen, because these patients don’t remember anything. So when the abuse takes place, they will forget it 10 to 15 minutes after and won’t remember anything that took place. It could even be a shorter amount of time as well, with each Alzheimer’s patient abuse can take place in a care center. And actually, this was something I never really knew before before my mom started to tap into it and start to educate me more on the topic of memory loss and Alzheimer’s patients. Like I said before, why I believe this is something non easily resolved is because you know, most of these patients have memory loss and can’t speak up for themselves. And also, a lot of people don’t know that this is going on, just like when my mom, you know, had to tell me kind of that abuse was taking place in these homes. I didn’t know any of that before. And I feel like it’s a topic that isn’t really touched on by a lot of people, because either they’re just not educated enough, or they just don’t really know that it’s happening. This was something that I really did want to touch on during this podcast, but also in our diaries as well. I believe that this topic does need more attention and it does need more research done on this topic to see really what is going on in these nursing homes with Alzheimer’s patients. When doing more research on the topic of Alzheimer’s and also the abuse that could possibly take place in a nursing home. I went to the Alzheimer’s Association website to find out more information on abuse and this is what I found, abuse can occur anywhere including at home and in the care center, people with dementia are especially vulnerable because the disease may prevent them from reporting the abuse or recognizing it. Kind of like I said before, they also may fall prey to strangers who take advantage of their cognitive impairment. The website also listed different forms of abuse that aren’t just physical, the abuse could also be mental, sexual, emotional and neglect. This is an injustice that I will continue to educate myself on and prevent happening to elders at any age. This is also something that I want to tap into more especially with my grandpa having the disease. While my grandpa is currently at home with my grandma in a great place and his care is in great hands. I do want to keep fighting for the elders that do suffer abuse in these care centers or in nursing homes all over the world. The next systemic injustice that I’m going to be talking about is one that I’m really uneasy about. It just didn’t sit well with me when I was writing about it or researching it or even when I saw it in the news, it was something that really upset me and made me just feel uneasy. I was actually sitting in the kitchen one day when I saw the news report an Asian Uber driver that was harassed and it was shocking to me that I saw this on the news I was actually so saddened by watching this news report. This Uber driver was coughed on, his phone was grabbed, and one of the passengers ripped off his mask. The three passengers in the Uber were all young to middle aged women and they were told multiple times to put on masks to follow COVID guidelines. They continuously didn’t follow rules in the gentleman’s Uber car and the Uber driver even asked them if they wanted to stop over at a gas station to buy a disposable mask so they could follow COVID guidelines in the Uber. When the Uber driver asked if they wanted him to pull over to get masks, that’s when they started to cough on him grab his phone and rip off his mask. It was particularly one passenger that grabbed his phone coughed on him and ripped off his mask as the other two passengers were just blatantly screaming at him. I think that this injustice was something that I was so uneasy about because when I first saw it on the news, I was completely and utterly shocked that something like that would take place. But then I started to educate myself more on Asian Americans and the racism that takes place in the country and all around the world and it’s honestly shocking how much takes place and that we’re not educated enough on. After the news story broke and the dash cam video footage went viral, the girl that coughed on the gentleman, and ripped off his mask and took his phone, turned herself and also took the other two girls into custody that were passengers and by standards, I believe the topic of Asian American racism is not spoken about enough nor are we educated enough on the topic of racism with Asian Americans, but I will continue to better educate myself and the people around me with the topic of Asian American racism. So concluding this very informational podcast over the past couple of weeks, I have really, truly learned so much information on all these in justices and really have opened my mind. After doing all these diaries, reading about the showcases and other people’s experiences with injustice or learning about them from the media, to even doing this podcast, it has really opened my mind. And I have also been educated so much throughout these past couple of weeks on these injustices. I truly believe that this will be such an informational experience for each and every one of us students, and we will continue to educate and better ourselves on the topic of racism, discrimination and inequality. I hope each and every one of you have gained something from this podcast, and I cannot wait to gain something from all of yours as well. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Hi everyone. My name is Libby Preslock and I am a second year student at Ohio State. I’m majoring in operational management, and I’m getting a minor in finance. In today’s episode we’ll be diving into the topic of cults the one cult we are really going to dive into is the Westboro Baptist Church. The reason the Westboro Baptist Church is a great topic to dive into is due to their racist and homophobic background. So let’s start by giving a little background on what even is the Westboro Baptist Church, and what do they even stand for? Well, the Westboro Baptist Church is an American hyper capitalist hate group. It is known for engaging in inflammatory homophobic, and anti American pickets, as well as hate speech against atheist, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and numerous Christian denominations. Now that we’ve given some backstory, we did ask our listeners on our website about a week ago and let them know that we are going to be talking on this topic, we ask people to either write or call in for advice about particular circumstances they had seen regarding the Westboro Baptist Church or cults in general. The first question we have was sent in by Christie. Christie asked, Why does the Westboro Baptist Church pickit army funerals? And how is this a form of injustice? Well, Christy, that’s a great question and a great place to start off when it comes to investigating the Westboro Baptist Church. One of the most interesting things the Westboro Baptist Church does is attend the funerals of Army soldiers and pickit them the main reason members of the church attend funerals is to conduct anti gay protests at the military funerals, their organization pickets, celebrity funerals and public events as well as for the churches made the statement, the soldiers are dying for the homosexual and other sins of America. The main reason the church pickets these funerals is to promote their anti homosexuality agenda. So the idea of the Westboro Baptist Church picketing army funerals is the first example of injustice, the injustice of homophobia. The Westboro Baptist Church also targets transphobic members, they express many transphobic messages in their protest. When members of the church decide to go protest, they come out with signs. Most of these signs always read messages of hate transphobia homophobia or other sources of injustices. Some examples of the signs that they hold include thank God for dead soldiers, and the most shocking of them all. God hates F*gs. Next, we will be moving on to another question asked by another listener. Our next listener, Chris asked, How does the Westboro Baptist Church target those of Jewish heritage? This is another great question. The Westboro Baptist Church has many forms of anti semitism that they have had and believed in since their founding time. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church believe their church is the one and only quote unquote, right church for those. They don’t believe in other churches or other religions, and believe people that don’t worship what they believe, are going to be sent to hell. To more specifically answer Chris’s question on why the Jewish community is so heavily targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church, we can look into some of the quotes that members of the church have made against them. The first quote against the Jewish community comes from margie Phelps, a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, she makes the claim that Jews were once one of the loudest voices in favor of homosexuality and abortion, and that, quote unquote Jews claim to be God’s chosen people. Another member of the Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps also makes many harsh statements against the Jewish community.

In one example, in 1996, Phelps began a campaign called Topeka Baptist Holocaust. He was attempting to draw attention to attacks perpetrating against Westboro Baptist Church pickers, and saying that they were not random, but organized attacks orchestrated by Jews and homosexuals. Fred Phelps has also made statements on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He makes the claim that American taxpayers are financing this unholy monument to Jewish mendacity and greed into filthy F*g lust. by answering Chris’s question and given examples on how the Jewish heritage and community is targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church, we now look at our second form of injustice, anti semitism. So far in this podcast, we now have taken a look into two forms of injustices the cult Westboro Baptist Church stands for and make claims for. We have looked into their claims against anti homosexuality and anti semitism. We now will be taking an intermission between talking about the injustices the Westboro Baptist Church stands for, we will be taking a look into a way that people decided to take a stand against the Westboro Baptist Church in a way that’s quite comical and funny. The way that people did this is a house across from the Westboro Baptist Church was painted with the Gay Pride rainbow colors. The man who orchestrated this Aaron Jackson says he took inspiration from a nine year old kid who stood up to the Westboro Baptist Church protesters painting the house in the colors of the Gay Pride rainbow. When they are done, they claim they’re going to be adding a huge rainbow flag in front of the house to add a little bit of extra ombiance. Someone from the Westboro Baptist Church made a quote about what they thought about the house, it was said that the reported representative of the Westboro Baptist Church said she loved the paint job because they kept the eyes of the earth on the church’s message. The message again, she means is the injustice of homophobia. A native bystander to the house a Midwesterner also made the quote that I’m proud of the welcome Jackson’s received. After all, he explained why he’s doing this. He wants to show where there’s hate, and there also can be love. This house is a great example of ways people are taking a stand against the churches injustices and it’s hatred towards others.

We now are going to go back to listening and answering questions that people have sent in on the topic of the Westboro Baptist Church. The next question was sent in by listener Sara. Sara asked the question of how the Westboro Baptist Church has targeted and hurt people of the Islamic culture. This is another great question. As this opens up the third installment of the injustices the Westboro Baptist Church has demonstrated. We can look into how this takes place as we look into comments made by jael Phillips, another member of the Westboro Baptist Church. In an interview in 2011, she and other members of the Westboro Baptist Church tauntingly and publicly burned a copy of the Quarn while being scolded by a Muslim man. These members of the Westboro Baptist Church made the quote that the Quarn was an atrocious piece of trash, and that they were giving it the proper respect that it deserved by doing so. Not only did these members make quotes against the Muslim community, they also decided to pickit the funeral of a Muslim mans wife the following week. jael Phillips was present for this and said the wife’s death was partly due to her Muslim husband having spoken out against the Westboro Baptist Church. This therefore meant that he she rejecting God in bringing his righteous judgment down upon him. She also commented that all those angry little Muslims can just shut their mouths. These examples all lead us into the third installment of the injustices is the Westboro Baptist Church preaches. We have now looked at the Westboro Baptist Church’s stance on the anti homosexuality, anti semitism. And now a look at Islamophobia. Islamophobia can be described as a dislike of or the prejudice against Muslim or Islams especially as a political force. In this case, we see a huge prejudice taking fold, as members of the church make derogatory comments as well as picket funerals, targeting and hurting the Muslim culture. The last question is asked by listener Jacqueline, Jacqueline asked the question to describe the pickets that the Westboro Baptist Church puts on. I decided to save this question for last as this encompasses all three of the injustices we talked about. And now we have a better understanding of what the Westboro church preaches. When they go out to do these pickets. The Westboro Baptist Church carries out daily picketing in Topeka, Kansas and also travels nationally to picket funerals of gay victims, gay bashing, and as well as those people who have died from complications related to AIDS. This example of picketing goes back to the Westboro Baptist Church’s stance on homophobia. Some of the most horrifying events that the Westboro Baptist churches picketed are for funerals of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, and the West nickel mines school shooting. The Westboro Baptist Church is able to keep its protests legal in nature. They are non violent, and they are able to acquire the proper permits needed to continue picketing. Although the Westboro Baptist Church has been able to tiptoe around the idea of getting in trouble through law enforcement, they recently have run into some trouble. This happened when they started protesting military funerals. We talked about this a couple minutes ago, again, talking about the injustice of homophobia. The public acts of protesting the military funerals cast a political spotlight on the group and gave its vast attention even though they are very small size. Another weird thing the Westboro Baptist Church does along with picketing is release parody songs. You actually can look these up on YouTube if you’re interested in what they say. The Westboro Baptist Church members, Steve drain claims that they make their songs and the choices of their songs to revolve around mostly popularity. They want it to encompass main stream stuff and the whole idea of doing the parodies is to preach. to round up this question. The Westboro Baptist Church Mainly uses picketing to get the churches main points across. Although these points are only agreed with by churches, members, they still want others to see and see the hatred that they spew. to round out this podcast, we were able to see the injustices that cult mentality can bring, mainly the Westboro Baptist Church in its three main examples of injustices. We also dived into the idea of what their pickets stood for, and the horrible things that they say during their pickets. I really appreciate everyone’s time coming to this talk, and I thank everyone who asked questions through our website, thank you so much, and I really hope to see you guys in our next podcast.

Works Cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church#Anti-homosexuality

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/03/19/174737257/house-across-westboro-baptist-is-painted-with-gay-pride-rainbow

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/03/21/rainbow-house-fights-westboro-baptist-with-love/

“Yo, Is This Asian Hate?”

ShangyiPu & Tiantian Wang

Aril 4, 2021

Tiantian: It’s morning shift. I’m Tiantian Wang, from China. Today, I invited my good friend- Shangyi Pu -to my podcast!

Shangyi: Hi, guys! I’m Shangyi!

Tiantian: Have you read the newspaper ?

Shangyi: Of course! I read the news everyday.

Tiantian: Haha, I thought you only caring about entertainment events every day and never read news.

Shangyi: Come on, Tiantian! I’m also very concerned about current affairs news, okay?

Tiantian: Since you watch the news every day, you must be aware of a major event in the United States recently.

Shangyi: Wow, there are many dramas happening in the United States every day, but I think you must be talking about the Asian shooting in Atlanta. I’m sorry for the people who died in this incident.

Tiantian: That’s what I want to discuss today-“Asian hate”. Let’s go straight to our today’s topic-“Yo, Is This Asian Hate?”

Tiantian: During your two years of studying and living in the United States, have you and your friend ever been discriminated against ?

Shangyi: No. My normal life is on campus and on the way home. I didn’t feel any discrimination, including going to the market. But I have also heard that some Americans discriminate against foreigners before. I was worried before coming to the United States. Fortunately, I did not suffer from this.

Tiantian: I found that we all have the same experience. When I told my family and friends to come to the United States to study, they would say that they must protect yourself. My uncles and aunts are not only worried about discrimination, but also that they are very worried about the gun problem in the United States and have been telling me not to go out alone at night. Haha…！But when I arrived in the United States, I found that these problems were not as serious as we thought.

Shangyi: This is normal, because they have never been to the United States nor have a deep understanding of the United States, and their understanding of the U.S. is limited to the media.

Tiantian: I agree with you. Do you have a deep understanding of the Atlanta incident?

Shangyi: What I know is also the information conveyed through the media.

Tiantian: Okay, let me talk about it! On March 16, three shooting incidents occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States. the first shooting occurred on the afternoon of March 16, 2021, when a massage parlor called “Young’s Asian Massage” in Cherokee County, northwest of Atlanta, was shot. Soon after, two more shooting incidents occurred in Atlanta. As of March 16, 2021, the shooting has caused a total of 8 deaths, of which 6 were Asian women. The US authorities stated that it is not yet clear about the motive of the attack and whether the victims were targeted because of their race.

Shangyi: So far, the US authorities have not given a reasonable explanation for this incident.

Tiantian: Do you think this incident has anything to do with race? When you face Americans at school, are they kind or discriminatory?

Shangyi: I don’t dare to define this thing easily, I’m afraid it will be “beaten”, haha. But after I learned about this, two types of people appeared. The first category is to fight against the injustices of Asians. They marched in the streets, gave speeches, and called on everyone to treat everyone peacefully and equally. The other category discriminates against Asians. They even launched the challenge of “slapped Asians” on the Internet. I have to say that this makes me very angry. Emm, I don’t feel very deeply about being in school, because I rarely talk to foreigners, and the general conversation is limited to learning. You know, they are generally kind.

Tiantian: I don’t think I felt any discrimination in school. When I was a freshman, the dormitory was divided into three Americans. I was very nervous at first, because I have never lived with people I don’t know well, let alone they are foreigners. I think this is a challenge for my life. When I first met them in the dormitory, they greeted me kindly. Of course I am still very nervous. After getting along, they didn’t stop talking to me because I was not proficient in spoken English, but listened carefully to what I wanted to express. They treat me very well, and we even go to the cafeteria to eat and play together.

Shangyi: Glad you met such good roommates！

Tiantian: Yeah, I know!

Shangyi: So have you communicated with them about the Atlanta shooting? What is their attitude towards this incident?

Tiantian: Yeah, we did! They sent messages to comfort me that many people are tolerant towards Asians, and they also dislike those who engage in racial discrimination. They also said that OSU is an inclusive school, as is Columbus, so I don’t have to worry about not going back to the United States. They said they wanted to see me and hang out with me so much!

Shangyi: They are really heartwarming, and I hope I can meet such a person.

Tiantian: Of course, you will!

Tiantian: You konw, US was originally a British colony. The original inhabitants of North America were Indians. However, a rift was created between the colony and Britain, and Britain continued to adopt a high-pressure policy towards North America, which caused strong dissatisfaction among residents in North America. From 1776 to 1783, the thirteen North American states won the War of Independence under the leadership of Washington. The United States was officially born and successively enacted a series of democratic political laws. Gradually become a completely independent nation-sovereign country.

Shangyi: I know these history. In my opinion, the United States is a country born of foreigners living here, and their ancestors should not even be counted as Americans. I don’t know why they discriminate against foreigners so badly.

Tiantian: Because of this incident, similar cases have occurred in many areas. As far as I know, on the subway in New York, an African-American assaulted an Asian. In the beginning, Asians were still able to resist, but later, the Asian man was knocked down and unable to fight back. What made me even more disappointed was that in the whole process, no passenger stepped forward to stop it, and everyone was indifferent.

Shangyi: In addition, it has happened in many areas, where the elderly and children were overthrown for no reason. These people also took a fancy to the inability of the elderly and children to fight back, and deliberately attacked them.

Tiantian: Do you think this type of discrimination problem will be resolved?

Shangyi: I think it is difficult to solve the problem of discrimination in the United States, whether it is discrimination against African Americans or Asians is almost impossible to eliminate. Some people have some deep-rooted ideas. They feel that these foreigners are invaders, occupying their country’s resources and wasting their country’s welfare. This kind of discrimination problem is difficult to eliminate even over time.

Tiantian: Yeah, I also think that the United States is a multi-ethnic country, because different customs are difficult to achieve true uniformity, let alone eliminate discrimination. Do you think there is any way to reduce discrimination?

Shangyi: I think there are many ways to reduce discrimination. As I said earlier, people in our country have prejudice against Americans because they don’t know enough about Americans. The same is true for Americans, because they do not know enough about a nation and have a lot of prejudice against this nation. I think this kind of education should start from school. For example, middle schools and universities should require students to learn a foreign national culture so that they can have the opportunity to learn about a nationality. When people learn more and more, this kind of discrimination can be alleviated.

Tiantian: Yes, I think there is also a government’s actions that are also very important. In the United States, much of this situation is due to government inaction. They are not dealing with these racial issues. If the country can come forward and declare that the United States is an inclusive country, it is a country where all ethnic groups are equal. I believe that this type of discrimination problem can be resolved greatly.

Shangyi : I very much agree with you, Tiantian. Furthermore, it is not terrible that things have happened. What is needed is that we all work with a positive attitude to change Current status. I think this is not only a need for the government to take action, but also hope that through everyone’s efforts, this discriminatory storm will pass as soon as possible, so as to minimize the occurrence of more misfortunes.

Tiantian: Okay, that’s all of our blog this week. Thanks to my good friend Shangyi for attending. Finally,I also want to call on everyone that the United States should be a multi-ethnic country where everyone is equal, and we should be more tolerant of other peoples! I also believe that through everyone’s efforts, everything will be okay!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56218684

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/31/983273270/san-francisco-man-who-threatened-asian-woman-in-bakery-arrested-for-hate-crime

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/there-were-3-800-anti-asian-racist-incidents-mostly-against-n1261257

Team Members: Lillian Nelson, Tania Velazquez, and Athena Stamos

Transcript:

Lillian: Hello everybody, welcome back to our segment! My name is Lillian Nelson, I am a third year student at Ohio State. I am majoring in zoology with a studio arts minor. 

Tania:  Hey everyone it’s Tania Velazquez. I am a freshman at Ohio State majoring in psychology with a minor in Human Rights. Stay tuned for this week’s segment! It’s a very interesting one!

Athena: Hi everyone! My name is Athena Stamos. I am a second year student at Ohio State majoring in mathematics with a minor in Modern Greek. Today on our “Yo, is this Sexist?” podcast, we’re going to be discussing double standards towards women in the media. How do you both feel about this issue?

Tania : To be honest, I never really paid attention to the double standards women go through in the media because it’s always been there so it’s seen as normal until you research it and realize it isn’t.

Lillian: I agree, we have been so used to the way women have been treated that it becomes second nature to ignore what is right in front of us. After researching the topic and seeing the countless articles that come up, it finally becomes real. 

Athena: I agree with both of you. I also didn’t realize that certain things are related to the double standard towards women. For example, an ambitious woman could be seen as being “bossy” and ultimately less likable compared to her male colleagues. Some women feel that they have to play nice, which may result in people not taking them seriously or they may appear as weak in society. 

Lillian: That topic comes up a lot when discussing workplace double standards, bosses tend to promote males who show authority and stand up for what they believe in but the females do not get the same response. You can see the authority of the males represented in the media and males through headlines of major articles and news stories. There are many instances where wives of actors are not even listed, for example the news article will say, “Ryan Reynold’s wife” instead of Blake Lively. 

Tania: I totally agree with both of you. I think one of the issues that comes with double standards is that society itself promotes it. Like Lillian said, when two celebrities become a couple or get married, it is always the female who gets labeled as “so and so’s wife” instead of being seen as just herself. It’s a constant cycle women have to go through.

Athena: I think a lot of the younger generations see this and it can start to have very negative influences on the youth. Many young people look up to these celebrities and it can affect people’s perceptions of themselves in the media, but also in life in general. 

Tania: What Athena said is 100% true! If you have ever watched celebrity interviews you can clearly tell the difference between how a female vs a male is interviewed. Males for the most part get asked about their careers, their next album etc. While females get asked about whose their new boyfriend/ potential crush is. Obviously this affects young girls who are watching these interviews. 

Lillian: Athena and Tania both bring up such good points here, celebrities really have such a strong influence on the younger generation growing up today especially with how prevalent social media is in the world right now. Female celebrities should be interviewed just the same as males, their career should matter just as much as males, but it seems as though only their personal lives are what matter to the media. 

Athena: Yeah definitely!! Do either of you have specific situations that come to mind that emphasizes this double standard in the media?

Tania: So this situation actually is brought up a lot during February every year. The infamous 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show. As all of you might have heard or seen, Justin Timberlake performed with Janet Jackson and towards the end of the show he ended up ripping her shirt resulting in a “nip slip”. Of course, this caused a lot of controversy during that time, but now it’s being brought back up because of the double standard Janet Jackson has received from Hollywood. I’m very interested in hearing what you guys have to say about this. 

Lillian: I do know what you’re talking about Tania and the whole situation angers me because I honestly can’t imagine being Janet in that whole scenario. I think clothing brings up the biggest double standard between men and women in my opinion. With this particular situation, Janet Jackson got huge backlash for something that wasn’t even caused by her, and on top of that, Justin Timberlake got no backlash at all. I’m very curious to know what would have happened if the roles were reversed. 

Athena: I can’t imagine reliving that every February or Super Bowl. I think that is a great example, Tania. From what I’ve seen it can literally take one thing to ruin a woman’s reputation in Hollywood. And I think what’s really interesting is Justin was at fault, but Janet’s time in Hollywood ended because of that one mistake. Like Lillian pointed out, he didn’t get any backlash. I really do think if the roles were reversed, a woman would still get blacklisted. 

Tania: I know a lot of people who are probably listening to this don’t really understand how big this was for Janet. That same year, she was not allowed to attend the Grammys, got her music pulled off from streaming services and radio stations and was even forced to publicly apologize to America. Justin gained popularity from this and continued his career even though he was at fault.

Athena: And I don’t think the media helped Janet’s situation at all. 

Lillian: Wow, hearing all that really solidifies true double standards in the media, and like Athena said, I’m sure the media continuously shared the video of the incident and streamed it everywhere possible to make it go viral. 

Tania: I want to bring up what we talked about in the beginning about how double standards in the media were and are seen as normal because that’s what we have been told all our life. In this situation, I think people in 2004 probably thought Janet was in fact in the wrong because that’s what the media portrayed but now in 2021 we can see how it wasn’t the case. Similar to what we learned in class about women being labeled as “Other”. In society we have always been told that women are the “Other” so it’s hard to view ourselves (since we are women) as equals to men. It’s extremely important for young girls to grow up with a different perspective in order to erase the “othering” women experience. Representation Matters!!

Lillian: I think a lot has changed since 2004 and although the media is more prevalent in our lives, I also think that we are more aware of ourselves as women and the double standards that the media puts on us. Even though things are changing, I think it will take many more years to get rid of the “othering” concept when it comes to women unfortunately. 

Athena: I feel like the combination of media and our society creates the Othering concept as Tania was saying earlier. Unfortunately just because of our gender or how the media showcases us, females are considered as “Others.” I feel like because of the increased usage of social media and technology, a lot more people are putting more weight and pressure on themselves with these standards. I completely agree with Lillian about how it will take time to fight these double standards. Do you think that we are heading in a better direction even though social media has been a bigger part of people’s lives than it ever has?

Lillian: I think it’s almost hard to say if we’re moving in a positive direction or not. There are times where I feel we are moving in the right direction, battling double standards, and then there is another incident that takes us multiple steps back. 

Tania: I agree with Lillian, the good thing about social media is that it is very universal, anyone can say anything. So if there’s someone trying to bring a woman down, a lot of women will respond with their side of the argument. 

Athena: Yeah, I see what you both mean. I feel like the only way to know is reflecting in the future. I definitely have been noticing a trend where women are being more vocal about supporting other women which is really great to see. 

Lillian: I also have been seeing more women supporting women recently and it has been very uplifting and making me very hopeful for the future. 

Tania: I agree with both of you! Well it looks like we are running out of time! I will admit this was probably one of my favorite segments so far!

Lillian: It was so great getting to talk to you all about this topic, I can’t wait for next time! 

Athena: Yes as always! Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next week!

Racism is embedded in our social, political, and economic framework, for some people it is what “keeps America, America”. Some thrive on the fact that they are white or not a person of color, that this was and will always be THEIR country. But these differences and hierarchies tend to leave people of color in the dust, especially in healthcare. Members of racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to receive preventive health services and are more likely to receive lower quality of care. Minorities often feel that the quality of healthcare that they receive comes from misrepresentation of their culture, and not the reality of who they actually are. They feel as though health care providers take one look at them and treat them differently, assuming that they are less educated, poor or deserve less respect because of their race. 

There have been racial disparities in health care for many years but more recently this imbalance has been putting many racial and ethnic minority groups at an increased risk of getting sick and dying from the coronavirus. The inequalities that have been placed on minorities groups for years such as poverty and the lack of healthcare access has been affecting the health and quality of life of these individuals. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists multiple reasons that minorities actually have a higher possibility of exposure and death from COVID-19.

One of the first reasons the the CDC lists is discrimination. Discrimination exists all over the world but healthcare of all places should definitely not be one. Everyone deserves a chance at fair and quality healthcare. There are a wide range of sources for discrimination like age, gender, obesity, or sexual orientation but race and ethnicity based discriminations is the most common. There was actually an experiment done at the Geneva University Hospital in 2007 that tested patients opinions on discrimination during their visit with a questionnaire, the study was conducted with 1,537 adult patients. “A total of 171 (11.1%) respondents reported at least one source of discriminations. Most (93, 54.4%) reported a single cause of discrimination. The Most frequent causes of discrimination were language, age, nationality and having a disease that is viewed negatively by others.” (Hudelson, Kolly and Perneger). The study goes to show that of the non-European participants reported discriminations as language barriers, nationality, choice of religion and skin color. This collection of data helps to show that individuals who get the impression of discrimination by their health care provider receive lower quality of care than those individuals who do not.

The CDC also accounts for Healthcare access being one of the reasons minorities are at an increased risk. Individuals who are a part of a minority group might be under protected because they do not have health insurance. “Healthcare access can also be limited for the groups by many other factors, such as lack of transportation, child care, ability to take time off of work; communication and language barriers; cultural differences between patients and providers; and historical and current discrimination in the health care systems.” (CDC). A lot of groups are actually afraid to seek health care and insurance because they do not trust our current health care systems and the government. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the African American Male still sits in the minds of some minorities which makes it very difficult for them to trust that they are actually being treated and given the same quality of care as white individuals. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis was an experimentation to try and observe the natural history of untreated syphilis in black populations. The “subject” had been uninformed because they were told they were receiving all of the necessary treatment for bad blood, in reality they received zero treatment. This experiment started 1932 and lasted until 1972, six hundred men joined the study of scientific experimentation of syphilis. There is a long history about why and how this study started that dates all the way back to 1865, basically when Social Darwinism was on the rise along with the theory of “scientific racism”. White people thought of themselves as high-caliber than African Americans and “science and medicine was all too happy to reinforce this hierarchy”. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were phony scientific concepts stating that while the brain of an African American male was underdeveloped, their genitals were actually overdeveloped. This “scientific theory” led to this study because individuals thought Black men were seen to have an inherent deviance towards white women and all African Americans were seen as having urgent “sexual appetites”. “This all matters because it was these understandings of race, sexuality and health that researchers undertook the Tuskegee study. They believed, largely due to their fundamentally flawed scientific understandings of race, that black people were extremely prone to sexually transmitted infections (like syphilis).” (McVean). During the study, instead of observing and documenting the natural progression of syphilis, the researchers interfered with the study. They would tell the subjects that they were being treated, which was a lie, and the researchers would prevent the subjects at any cost from seeking treatment that could save their life. By the time this study was shut down one hundred twenty eight patients died of syphilis, forty of their wives have been infected, and nineteen of their children have also acquired syphilis. The long wave of distrust between minorities and the government/healthcare can cause a greater exposure risk to COVID-19 because they would not trust receiving any type of treatment for the virus. 

One of the last reasons the CDC states is education and income gaps in minorities. Some minorities do not get fair access to quality education which may lead to reduced high school graduates and less individuals going to college. Not graduating high school and/or not attending college can be shown to lead to lower paying jobs. These lower paying jobs also might not have the freedom of a flexible schedule which can prevent them from making health care a priority. These rigid working hours can cause a greater exposure risk to the COVID-19 virus and even if/when they are infected minorities cannot risk missing work because they already do not make enough money for support. 

Racism in healthcare and the sense that minorities have been at a greater exposure risk to the coronavirus follows the concept of “The One and The Other”. Minorities are always going to feel like the other in our communities and government because of the way they have been treated for centuries. White individuals feel as though they have an “upper hand” in this country. Granted, it is not all white individuals that feel and act this way but until everyone changes their mind set, African Americans and other minorities are going to feel inferior or that they come in “last place”. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5060520/table/t1/?report=objectonly LINK SHOWING PATIENTS PERCEPTION OF DISCRIMINATION.

Works Cited

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups”. February 12, 2021

National Library of Medicine. Patricia Hudelson, Veronique Kolly and Thomas Perneger. “Patients Perceptions of Discrimination During Hospitalization”. 

Ada McVean B.Sc.. “40 Years of Human Experimentation in America: The Tuskegee Study”. McGill, Office of Science and Society. January 25, 2019.