With the recent coronavirus outbreak, we have seen many things come to an end: going outside, meeting out friends, going to school, going to work. But one thing that can’t seem to come to an end is racism. We are seeing more and more hate speech and hate crimes against those of East Asian origin every day.
Earlier this month, BBC reported on a Singaporean student attending University College London who was attacked by two teenagers. The student was beaten up and told by the two teens, “We don’t want your coronavirus in our country.” Another incident in San Francisco, reported by the New York Times, was a man shouting racist remarks to a woman of Chinese origin while she was waiting at a crosswalk. When a bus passed by, he shouted that the bus should run the woman over. When the woman tried to walk away, he spat on her face.
Though the majority of the cases haven’t been as physically aggressive, people of East Asian origin continue to face abusive remarks about the coronavirus. Even children have fallen victim to racist remarks. A thirteen-year-old middle-schooler from New Jersey told NPR that she has been targeted at her school along with other students of East Asian origin. “People call us ‘corona,'” she said.
The fear among Asian-Americans about being attacked actually caused a rise in gun sales. Gun stores across the U.S. have reported a spike in gun sales, and a large portion of the customers were people of Asian origin. David Liu, who owns a Gun shop in the San Gabriel Valley, told Newsweek that he has been getting 10 times the number of customers than normal.
Donald Trump calling the pandemic the “Chinese virus” doesn’t help. Trump has used this term on multiple occasions. In one of his more recent tweets, he states,
There was no reason in this scenario to call it the “Chinese virus,” he could have simply called it the coronavirus. Though Trump claims that it’s not racist to call it the “Chinese virus” because the virus comes from China, this sort of insensitive language enables the racist behavior of others. When people hear the president using such terms, it antagonizes people who are “Chinese,” and we have clearly seen the result of that with these countless attacks happening in the world.
Donald Trump has recently released a statement via Twitter saying,
The damage has been done. Many Asian-Americans fear about being harassed if they step out of their homes. Though he released this statement, he does not agree to stop using the term “Chinese virus.” It is already such a stressful time for the entire world. The fate of the coronavirus has been unclear and the least that can be done at this time is to treat each other with respect and not turn on each other. And it’s important that public figures such as political leaders and celebrities use language that is sensitive during these times.