violence against

asian-americans
The outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. coincided
with a recent wave of nationalism, mass inequality,
and an economic decline, creating a set of
conditions from which anti-Asian sentiment has
quietly, yet aggressively manifested in public
discourse.
Since the virus began to spread, people who identify as Asian American or Pacific
Islander (AAPI) have been subjected to racist comments (online or in person)
and to isolating behavior from those who are afraid of catching the virus.
Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150% in 2020. Nearly 3,800
incidents were reported annually over the course of the pandemic. Particularly
emphasizing women, these expressions of violence include verbal harassment,
shunning, physical assault and even murder. More than a third of incidents
occurred at businesses, the primary site of discrimination, while similarly, a
quarter took place in public streets.
However, despite the recent spike in violence against Asian Americans, racism
and persecution towards this group is not new to US history. Historians point
out that this is part of a longer fundamental history in the United States of
“camouflaging xenophobia and racism as public health and hygiene concerns.”
From the time the first wave of Chinese immigrants came to the US in the 19th
Century, Chinese were vilified and demonized, accused of eating rats and
engaging in pagan religious practices. Generally, they were associated with filth
and disease, often because they were forced to live in overcrowded quarters,
where disease was abundant and proper hygiene was quite hard to maintain.
Anti-Asian sentiment was enforced by federal law through many US initiatives,
such as the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited all immigration of
Chinese laborers.
As the COVID-19 spread across the globe at the beginning of 2020, US President
Donald Trump along with other government officials began unnecessarily
referring to the disease as the ‘Chinese virus’. Several organizations thoroughly
urged them to avoid terms like the racially loaded terms, fearing it could spike a
backlash against Asians. “We have seen time and again how dangerous it is when
influential leaders scapegoat for political gain and use inflammatory rhetoric
to stir up both interpersonal violence and racist policies” commented a co-
organizer of Stop AAPI Hate.
Researchers later analyzed, it fueled exactly the kind of backlash that was
feared, attributing a large part of the spike in violence, particularly online, to his
statements.
Physicians have warned that this uncertainty, along with constant fear and
stress, have led to significant impacts on Asian American’s mental health, along
with an already stressful global picture. Most people are more fearful of suffering
discriminatory attacks than they are of contracting COVID-19.
Asian Americans are having a difficult time dissociating themselves from the
disease, and, as a result, have been taking steps to disassociate themselves from
the characteristics that make up the Asian identity.