CS246 BACHELOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (HONS) INFORMATION

SYSTEM ENGINEERING

FAKULTI SAINS KOMPUTER DAN MATEMATIK

UiTM Shah Alam, Campus Shah Alam

Course name: ELC501 - English for Critical Academic Reading

Title of Assignment: Written Article Analysis - Anti-Asian Racism During Coronavirus

Lecturer name: Madam Nur Liyana Bt Johari

Students name: Matrics number: Group:

Nur Liyana Izzati Binti Zamridin 2020969307 CS2463A

Nazeyra bt Jamaluddin 2020996855 CS2463A

Sesi 2020/2020
 Annotated of Anti-Asian racism during coronavirus: How the language of disease produces
hate and violence
Paula Larsson
Self-isolation. Quarantine. Lockdown. The outbreak of COVID-19 and its subsequent
dissemination across the globe has left a shock wave of disbelief and confusion in many
countries.
Accompanying this wave has been a spike in racist terms, memes and news articles
targeting Asian communities in North America. Asian Americans report being spit on,
yelled at, even threatened in the streets. There has been a recent stabbing in Montréal and
increased violent targeting of Asian businesses. Asian Americans reported over 650 racist
attacks last week according to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. These
New incidents demonstrate rising racism against Asian communities in North America.
Didn’t know the History tells us this is not the first time that fear of disease has led to outbreaks of anti-
White prejudice Asian racism. Underlying prejudice against Asian communities has been a staple feature
against Asian of North American society since the first Chinese workers arrived in the mid-19th century.
because the fear of
disease. Looking back at these outbreaks of discrimination is a sobering lesson of the consequences
of racial labels for disease.

Confusing Increased racist rhetoric by politicians, like President Donald Trump’s erroneous use of the
What does the term “China Virus” for COVID-19, is often the first step to racialized violence. Trump
word “rhetoric” recently agreed to stop using the racist label, acknowledging in series of tweets
means? And the (@realDonaldTrump): “It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American
word from Donal community in the United States ... the spreading of the Virus ... is NOT their fault in any
Trump is way, shape, or form.”
confusing. What
But more than 100 years ago, white spokespeople in North America had labelled Chinese
does he mean
people as “dangerous to the white,” living in “most unhealthy conditions” with a “standard
when he agreed
of morality immeasurably below ours.”
to stop using the
racist label but Since then, white settler resentment of Chinese presence has consistently boiled over into
use the terms outright racism and violence. Seminal work by Peter S. Li, professor emeritus of sociology
“China Virus” for at the University of Saskatchewan, highlights such incidences throughout Canada’s history,
COVID19? while historian Roger Daniels explores the rise of anti-Asian movements within the United
States.

Indispensable Chinese labour

The gold rush of the mid-19th century attracted many prospectors to the West Coast of
North America. Chinese immigrants arrived alongside those from Japan, the United
Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere. Although the majority of prospectors travelled south to
California, large prospecting encampments developed in British Columbia.
 When B.C. joined Canadian Confederation in 1871, the Canadian government initiated a
system to recruit and attract Chinese labour to supplement the growing requirements of
building the Canadian Pacific Railway. Thousands of Chinese workers were hired and
arrived by boat. Many factors contributed to their departure from China, but in Canada,
they were indispensable workers that helped complete the railroad, working at minimal pay
compared to their white counterparts. Indeed, the fact that Chinese workers could be
exploited for cheap labour was exactly why Canada’s first prime minster, John A.
Macdonald encouraged Chinese immigration.
Chinese communities thrived in the growing cities of the West Coast, setting up businesses
and finding employment in laundries, grocers and labour camps, as well as in domestic
service, especially as cooks. The railway was completed in 1885, seemingly ending the
continued need for good but cheap Chinese labour.

The rise of anti-Asian racism

Around this time, white communities were growing disgruntled at the presence of Asian
settlers in the cities. In 1880, the Anti-Chinese Association of Victoria submitted a petition
to Ottawa against “the terrible evil of Mongolian usurpation” in Canada. The 1882 passage
of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States soon led Canadian officials to consider
similar measures.
In 1884, the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration was established, to determine the
impact of Chinese presence in Canada. The commission held hearings in British Columbia,
San Francisco and Portland, to gather evidence from witnesses — over fifty people from
among from the police, government, physicians and the public. Only two of the witnesses
were Chinese.
The witness accounts reveal how underlying race prejudice has long formed the basis of
North American attitudes towards China.

Blame for disease

The Royal Commission report concluded: “The "Chinese quarters are the filthiest and most
disgusting places in Victoria, overcrowded hotbeds of disease and vice, disseminating fever
and polluting the air all around.” Yet the commissioners were aware that such conditions
were derived from poverty, and that the overcrowded slums could occur just as easily
among “any other race” that was similarly impoverished.

Difficult Despite this, both the public and many politicians continued to connect disease with race.
What does this The Chinese were consistently accused of being carriers of infection. In the Royal
sentence mean? Commission report, it was a common belief that syphilis, leprosy and especially smallpox
This sentence were “communicated to the Indians and the white population” from Chinese communities.
should use an easy This despite the fact that at the time China legally required inoculation for all its citizens,
word for better
understanding.
 and the physicians interviewed by the commission declared having “never seen a case of
leprosy amongst them.”
By 1885, Canada had passed the Chinese Immigration Act which placed a “head tax” on
all Chinese immigrants. Quarantine officers at the ports were ordered to inspect all on board
of Chinese origin, stripping down and examining any Chinese person suspected to be sick.
Over the next 20 years, recurring smallpox epidemics were erroneously blamed on Chinese
communities.
Such sentiments were accompanied by violence. In 1886, anti-Asian riots broke out in
Vancouver, resulting in violent attacks on Asian workers. Similar riots occurred again in
1907, after the formation of a Canadian branch of the American Asiatic Exclusion League
in Vancouver. The group organized public, inflammatory speeches against the “filth” of
British Columbia’s Asian residents. On Sept. 7, 1907, a mob violently attacked Asian shops
and homes in Vancouver’s Chinese and Japanese quarters.
Interesting
These historical incidents of discrimination clearly demonstrate how the language of
We should not put
disease is often encoded with underlying racial prejudice.
a prejudicial
treatment to “Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the colour of your
people from any skin or how much money you have in the bank,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of
kind of ethnics the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program.
because viruses
know no borders. Yet language can easily spark discrimination in times of fear, with dire consequences.
A Critical Analysis of Anti-Asian Racism During Coronavirus Article

In the article “Anti-Asian Racism During Coronavirus”, the author tries to deal with the racism issues
against Asian communities during sudden outbreak of pandemic virus called Covid-19. She introduced
the article with a hard statement about this kind of wave has been rising racism towards Asian
communities in terms of racist memes and news articles that targeting Asians in North America. The
author emphasizes words such as racist and discrimination that shows her tone is serious and formal
about this kind of issue. The author’s intended audience is substantial news or general interest which a
general but educated and well-read audience.

She begins her article by stating that this kind of issue is not the first time that fear of disease has led to
the rise of anti-Asian racism. She stated that the prejudices underlying Asian society have become a
hallmark of North America. The author presents three claims to support her statement. Firstly, she
claimed that this outbreak of discrimination is a serious lesson in the effects of racial labels on disease.
Next, she also claimed that the racist rhetoric has increased that caused by politicians. For example,
President Donald Trump misuse of the term “China Virus” for Covid-19. The author mentioned on her
third claim, that just because of this mistake, it can be the first step in racist violence.

The author stated her point of view that discrimination towards Asian started during mid-19th century
when indispensable Chinese labour in North America. To support her point of view, the author claims
that prejudices against Asian communities has been a staple feature in North America society since mid-
19th. Most of her claims are based on the history data that can be found in the internet. The evidence
for her claim of her point of view are legit and provided with pictures.

Next, the author stated her second point of view on the rise of anti-Asian racism issue. The author
supports her point of view with historical evidence with pictures to shows that this kind of movement
happened throughout the history. She claimed during that time; white communities were growing
disgruntled at the presence of Asian settlers in the cities. To strengthen her point of view, she provided
an evidence to support her evidence which is an event that happened during in 1880. The author stated
that there is a petition that submitted by the Anti-Chinese Association of Victoria. She presented the
evidence with a legit source to shows the audience that this issue has been lingering since throughout
decades ago.

The author the presented her last point of view which is how the Asian communities were being blamed
for the disease. The author gave a bit of Royal Commission Report to support her point of view which is
stated in the report that “Chinese quarters are the filthiest and most disgusting places in Victoria
overcrowded hotbeds of disease and vice, disseminating fever and polluting the air all around.” It shows
that the author wants to aware the reader about how serious this racism issue towards Asian. Not only
that, the author claims that the history of discrimination shows clearly how language is often encoded
with underlying racial prejudice. This claim is based on her opinion itself regarding this issue. Next, she
presented another support detail to strengthen her point of view which is expert testimony by Dr. Mike
Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization (WHO) health emergencies program said
“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin or how
much money you have in the bank”. The author inferred that racism toward Asian communities began
since the first Chinese workers arrived in the mid-19th century. Based on the inference, the author
conclude that these historical incidents of discrimination clearly demonstrate how the differences of
language is often encoded with racial prejudice.
In summary, all of the author’s point of view appear to be relate to each other. All of her point of view is
based on the actual history with the legit evidence provided to shows to the audience how concerning
the issue was. The author stand with her word about language can easily trigger discrimination in times
of fear with disastrous consequences. She managed to show some validity of the evidence in some
earlier claims but she more focus on history racism issue compared to the current issue. So, her overall
point of view about anti-Asian Racism during coronavirus is moderate and not strong due to lack of fact
on the current issue compared to the history.

(760 WORDS)