#RacismIsAVirus
- Mikayla
- Mar 20, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2020
Xenophobia: fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign (Merriam-Webster)
Racism and microaggressions are what POC (people of colour) deal with on a regular basis. Asians have recently been the target for a lot of this due to COVID-19. People have been calling it the "Chinese coronavirus" because it seems to come from Wuhan, China, BUT this is NOT an excuse for racism. This coronavirus isn't just affecting Chinese people nor are all Chinese or Asian people carriers. It also isn't the correct name. It is a name that should not be used. I, personally, am very grateful to not have experienced any of the racism around the coronavirus but I know many people have, whether they are actually Chinese or not. I think this is happening in the US more than in Canada, but I could be completely wrong. It's probably happening everywhere. And it's terrible.
A few examples of things that have been happening recently.
New York:
- A man assaulted an Asian woman wearing a face mask and called her a "diseased b---h".
- An Asian passenger on a subway was verbally assaulted and sprayed with Febreze.
Los Angeles:
- On a subway, a man ranted at an Asian American woman (who turns out to be Thai American). He said all Chinese people are "putrid and responsible for all diseases".
WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE: Ted Lieu: Trump is stoking xenophobic panic in a time of crisis
I highly recommend watching this USA Today Video about Asian Americans' experiences right now with coronavirus and microaggressions.
VIDEO: Asian Americans open up about xenophobic microaggressions during coronavirus outbreak
Chinese American actor Tzi Ma had someone roll down the window outside a Whole Foods in California and say "You should be quarantined".
Eugene Lee Yang (Korean American) of YouTube's The Try Guys tweeted this:
See more conversations about this among some Asian Americans:
VIDEO: A Wong Fu Productions Lunch Break: Let's Talk About Coronavirus
Wong Fu Productions is a production company run by Asian Americans. They normally make series and short films and movies. This is their extra, fun channel called More Wong Fu. In this video they speak to the general state of the world and social distancing right now, as well as xenophobia and aggression towards Asian Americans.
Also check out this music video and conversation with Year Of The Ox
VIDEO: YEAR OF THE OX - "VIRAL" MUSIC VIDEO | Coronavirus Message
SO REMINDER: Be kind to everyone. All the time. Especially right now. Spread love, not racism and hate.
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