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Anti-Asian racism and COVID-19

Anti-Asian racism and COVID-19

(revised July 16, 2020)

Jennifer Ho is professor of ethnic studies and director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts at the University of Colorado 鶹ӰԺ, and president of the .

This outline of anti-Asian racism is adapted from a slide deck that was developed to help educate people about anti-Asian racism that has emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic. I have focused on racism in the US, but anti-Asian racism is a global phenomenon. Feel free to share widely and to add your own slides. Click here to download the slide deck in pdf form.

Racism Defined

  • Racism is a system where one racial group dominates/has power over others—the  site 
  • Racism is institutional – it is power plus prejudice
  • Racism is not the same as talking about race
  • Racism in the U.S. has taken the form of
    • and the enslavement of people from African nations
    •   and colonization
    • The World War II 
    • Targeting 
    • Housing, Marriage, Educational discrimination whereby  , are and  

Anti-Asian Racism: A very brief history

  • Anti-Asian racism has existed from the time the first wave of Chinese immigrants came to the U.S. in the 19th century first and then when they were recruited to build the 
  • Chinese were vilified and demonized in the U.S.,  (rats) and engaging in pagan religious practices (Confucianism). Generally , often because they were forced to live in overcrowded quarters (what became Chinatowns in industrial/poor neighborhoods), where   and proper hygiene unobtainable
  • Anti-Chinese sentiment grew in the U.S. in the 19th century with accusations that 

  Yellow Peril

  • Anti-Chinese sentiment became part of the Yellow Peril language
  •  refers to a general fear, mistrust, and hatred of, first, Chinese in the U.S., and then these negative sentiments were transferred to other Asian-ethnic immigrant groups: Japanese, Korean and Indian
  •  sentiment fueled many anti-Asian U.S. initiatives, such as the , the ұԳٱ𳾲’s&Բ;𳾱Գ, and the Cable Act
  • The most important thing to note is that  reduces Asians to always being foreign, never considered American

  Asians becoming Americans

  • Historically anti-Chinese sentiment became anti-Asian racism once the ethnic particularities of being Chinese in the U.S. were flattened into the racial category of “Oriental” (past) now, ASIAN
  • [Note: it is akin to calling African Americans ”Negro”—Dz’t do it]
  • Asians in the U.S. eventually became Asian Americans, officially   but also culturally and socially as the U.S. became more accepting of non-European people being considered American
  • However, a sizable number of people in the U.S. still regard  rather than as U.S. citizens—which contributes to anti-Asian racism

  Vincent Chin & 9/11 backlash

  • Two instances that show how Asian Americans continue to be seen as “foreign” rather than as U.S. citizens and fully American:
  • —a Chinese American engineer who was brutally murdered by two white men who accused him of stealing their jobs during the Detroit auto industry slump
  •   —many of the people in the aforementioned groups have described  that have led to fear, stigmatization and 

  Why saying “C󾱲Ա վܲ” is racist

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) has been clear in explaining They want  when diseases have been affiliated with geographic regions or ethnicities
  • Though the virus may have first originated in Wuhan, China, it has become a global pandemic. And as the WHO and  have noted, to mis-name the virus and call it by its point of origin  
  • When  and private citizens insist on calling it “C󾱲Ա վܲ” because the 1918 flu pandemic was referred to as the “Spanish Flu,” this reinforces the problem with using “C󾱲Ա վܲ” since so the logic does not hold up
  • And when people say to say that the virus originated in China, that would be true if we lived in a world in which systemic racism were not still an issue and  did not still persist.
  • Using the phrase “C󾱲Ա վܲ”  to blame a country and people who others continue to associate with disease and filth and where  

  Incidents of Anti-Asian harassment/racism

  • Since the spread of COVID-19, and  , has been on the rise
  • In the U.S.,  have resulted in the following:
    • Asian Americans are of ,  and 
    • The has created a for people to report 
    • have created  
    • are reporting on connected 

    AAAS Statement about anti-Asian harassment and COVID-19 

    released early March 2020

    The Centers for Disease Control recently announced that the Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19 may spread in the United States. As people take precautions to manage their health (the two biggest precautions are ), the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) wants to also acknowledge the  that many Asian Americans (particularly those who look East Asian) are experiencing. As an organization dedicated to the study of Asian Americans, we want to be very clear that xenophobia has no place in our communities or workplaces and that harassment of Asians due to fears of the coronavirus are not only unwarranted but sadly part of a . We stand firm in rejecting anti-Asian bigotry in the guise of people expressing fear of Novel Coronavirus/COVID-19. We also urge people to find resources that will educate them about how to manage their health as well as why their prejudices/biases in assuming all Asians have the virus are rooted in a , xenophobia, ableism, and anti-Asian racism. Please encourage your colleagues and friends to explore  that addresses anti-Asian bias associated with the coronavirus. And please remember: frequent handwashing, not anti-Asian stereotypes/harassment, is your best means of preventing the spread of coronavirus.

    Anti-Black Racism & Black Lives Matter

    • On May 25, 2020 , a Black American, died at the hands of White police officer, Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. The video recorded by was viewed around the world and set off a wave of US national and , police brutality, and systemic racism -- where people declared that .
    • Floyd is only one of several thousands (millions) of Black people to die at the hands of White law enforcement/White vigilantes over the last few weeks/months/years/centuries. , , , and are others recently killed by anti-Black racism.
    • ; what seems new-ishis the attention people are paying in the midst of COVID-19—the ongoing global protests and demands for and .

    Anti-Black/Anti-Asian Racism & White Supremacy

    • The current rise of -- the ferocity/violence is a resurgence of anti-Asian racism that emerges when the US is under “threat” (ex: WWII, Cold War, Viet Nam, 9/11)
    • Anti-Asian racism is is not the same as ; however, what both forms of racism share are 
    • They are both subject to and are in service of 
    • They are both systemic – it’s not about individual people being racist – it’s about the systems and institutions in the US that create conditions where Asians are seen as foreign and Black people are not granted basic humanity and rights.
    • If you are learning about for the first time, and especially if you identify as , then you must recognize the ways in which being against anti-Asian racism means 

    AAAS Solidarity Statement

    June 2020

    The (AAAS) unites in solidarity with our Black family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and co-workers to call for an immediate end to anti-Black racism and the killing of Black people. We are an organization committed to social justice, intersectional analysis, and global human rights. Our fight against anti-Asian pandemic racism is rooted in a common struggle against White supremacy. The recent murders of AhmaudArbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and George Floyd propel us to state, clearly and definitively, that Black lives matter and that we must abolish the militarized police state in which anti-Black racism is embedded. To end global anti-Black racism, we must fight racism in our local communities and educate ourselves and others about the rich history of Black Americans and support, validate, and value Black lives now and always.

    The Association for Asian American Studies Board of Directors

     How to be an anti-racist ally

    • Anyone can be an  you simply need to   and promote and 
    • The first step is about the  – and this  is on-going and 
    • The next step is practicing  in your communities – Dz’t just be a bystander, speak out. Remember: 
    • How you can address anti-Asian racism NOW is to   and explain how it is connected to a 
    • You can, for example, share this presentation with them and encourage people to report anti-Asian harassment 
    • You can attend a 

    Further reading

    • Anderson, Carol. White Rage: the Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. Bloomsbury 2016.
    • Hsu, Madeline. .2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2016.
    • Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Anti-Racist. Penguin 2019.
    • Lee, Erika. The Making of Asian America: A History. Simon & Schuster 2015.
    • Lopez, Ian Haney. . 10th Anniversary edition. NYU Press 2006.
    • Maeda, Daryl. Chains of Babylon: the Rise of Asian America. University of Minnesota Press 2009.
    • Ngai, Mae. . Princeton University Press 2014.
    • Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. . Routledge 2014.