NAVIGATION:

 Indigenous Communities Facing COVID-19 | Mental and Physical Health of Hispanic Communities | Physical Health Disparities amongst Black Communities | Mental and Emotional Health amongst Black Communities | Racism and its Impact on the Mental Health of Asian Americans 

 A black and white photo of the author wearing a shirt that bears the statement "I'm not contagious, you're just racist" on the right side and a pin with the statement "wash your hands and don't be a racist" on the left side. 

Anti-Asian Racism During COVID-19

By Juliana Clark

          The spread and development of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) into a global pandemic has impacted different minority communities in many ways. One of the most prominent shifts in attitudes towards minority communities as a result of COVID-19 is that of Asian Americans. As research revealed that the virus originated in China, society was quick to find a scapegoat and began to blame Chinese people for the spread of the virus. This led to an increase in anti-Asian sentiments and an increase in hate crimes against Asians. According to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, more than 1,700 hate crimes linked to anti-Asian sentiments and rhetoric were recorded between March 19, 2020 and May 13, 2020 in the United States.[i] To make matters worse, the United States government actively encouraged the projection of anti-Asian sentiment. One of the most alarming instances was U.S. President Donald Trump’s referral to COVID-19 as the ‘China Virus’ in March 2020 and the rapid adoption of this term by news media outlets. This was despite the World Health Organization (WHO) having condemned the use of the term a month prior.[ii] The prevalence of xenophobia through social media and news outlets made being aware of these hate crimes and rhetoric unavoidable. The constant exposure to xenophobia against Asians combined with the emotions that came with being in self-isolation provided extra layers of anxiety and stress to Asian-Americans.[iii] This subsection will reveal through a personal perspective, how the escalation of anti-Asian hate crimes combined with the depressive emotions of being in quarantine/isolation have resulted in a decrease of mental well-being among Asian Americans.  

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A black and white photo of a person's (the author's) face with a mask that has red text on it reading "We Are Not a Virus" 

Being Chinese During COVID-19 

The following is a recollection of experiences between Febraury 2020 and August 2020 by the author of this sub-section, a young Chinese adult in her hometown of New York City during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

        It was February 2020 and I had returned to New York City for reading week. Although it had not yet been publicly released that the coronavirus had reached United States soil, the knowledge that there was a virus spreading in China was enough for some to start expressing underlying xenophobia. I remember receiving stares in the subway cars and seeing people move away from me. I didn’t feel threatened, just sad and annoyed at the ignorance that people had. However, as time went on and I was forced off campus and moved back to New York City to quarantine, my feelings began to change. Especially after I finished up classes, I spent my time watching the news and scrolling through twitter. I kept up with the rise of hate crimes against Asians in the months of March-August. I remember feeling angry when I saw the newspapers headlining COVID-19 in the United States with photos of Asian people. I remember hearing about the different hate-crimes that were occurring throughout NYC and the United States and feeling increasingly worried. As more information was revealed about the virus, more xenophobic remarks were released by the media. This deepened the belief in some people's minds that Chinese people spread the virus. By June, I even felt worried about taking walks in the park or going outside. Despite me weighing the probabilities of becoming a victim of a hate crime myself, I still felt vulnerable. I remember the fear got worse as I went upstate for three weeks in July. I was no longer in the city and instead surrounded by people with increasingly conservative views. Although nothing happened to me there either, the underlying fear that something could happen to me was constant.

            I remember trying to focus on the positive resources and infographics that were being spread across Instagram to combat the xenophobia surrounding the pandemic. One powerful social media campaign that was gaining some attention on Instagram consisted of an East Asian individual holding up a sign with the hashtag #WeAreNotAVirus. As of writing this in December 2020, there have been 500+ posts under that hashtag. While that may not be a huge number compared to other social media campaigns, it is something that I found comforting during my time in isolation. Although I was able to find some peace in sharing the infographics combatting the anti-Asian hate, it also made me realize how much racism towards Asians was swept under the rug by Western society. How-- because Asians are considered to be the "model minority" (which is a total myth) that somehow our experiences with racism didn't need to be taken seriously. This realization is not one that I am alone in, as expressed in a New York Times article by Cathy Park Hong, a Korean American writer in New York City. 

       As I browse through the "#IamNotAVirus" hashtag, I realize that most of the posts are made by people who are Asian themselves. In a way, this represents much of how I felt in isolation-- alone outside of my own community. I felt supported by the shared experiences of other East Asians in relation to discrimination, but outside of the Asian community, I didn't feel as though others saw the xenophobia from the pandemic as a serious issue. I don't need or want pity or attention from outside communities. I just want the experiences of racism towards Asians to be taken seriously and I feel like it’s about time for them to be too.