WASHINGTON —?The Japanese American Citizens League issued the following statement on March 20.
=*=
As terms like “Chinese virus,” “Wuhan virus,” and “Kung Flu” are increasingly used by the president and other leaders in our country, so do we see the increase of racially based hate crimes and xenophobia against people of Asian descent. While President Trump has defended his usage of these types of terms as “inot racist at all,” the impacts on our communities tell a different story.
Since as early as January, Asian-owned businesses have been seeing drastic decreases in sales, to the point that some have had to permanently close.
New York City has seen a significant rise in violence against Asians, ranging from verbal abuse to physical assault, including a man chasing an Asian woman through the subway station before beating her.
In San Francisco, a woman was spit on and screamed at by a man on the street, forcing her to flee to a nearby business to escape further attack.
These types of incidents are only going to increase as rhetoric that points the finger at the Chinese, and more broadly Asians, continues to escalate.
Asians, especially East Asians, are being labeled as dirty, uncivilized, and animalistic based on cultural generalizations. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) blamed the Chinese for causing COVID-19 because of the stereotype of a diet of animals exotic to American palates.
This type of fear-based inductive reasoning harkens back to moments in our history like the Chinese Exclusion Act and the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans, when people of Asian descent were targeted by our government through racist policies.
People of Asian descent are no more likely to be carriers of COVID-19 than anyone else: viruses do not see race. The negative and in some cases violent reactions Asians have been experiencing serve as a reminder that we are seen as the perpetual foreigner. It doesn’t matter how many generations our families have been here or if we have just recently immigrated; we are continually labeled as “other.”
Had COVID-19 originated in a predominantly white country, the story would have looked a lot different.
This harmful narrative that is being divisively used by our government leaders is creating widespread hatred and fear against Asians that will have long-lasting impacts on our community. As businesses close and racist attacks continue, we call on our leaders to use language that does not cast blame on Asian people.
COVID-19 is a global pandemic that impacts all of us equally. It should be called by its scientific name, not a colloquialism that is harming the Asian people.
Twin Cities JACL’s Open Letter to Minneapolis Mayor, Police ChiefL.A. County and City of Vernon Investigate COVIDManzanar Committee Decries Racist Violence Targeting African AmericansGLA JACL to Present Enka SingersJANM’s Annual Oshogatsu Family Festival Set for Jan. 5Documentary on Korean Schools in Japan to Be ScreenedHanabusa Running for Mayor of HonoluluVirtual Rally to Benefit Small BusinessesJACL Recognizes AAPI Day Against Bullying and HateNational Merit $2,500 Scholarship Winners Announced Four new iPads are coming very soon, according to a new Apple rumor Target Circle Week is live — shop tons of deals, plus 15% off a one How to preorder the new Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for October 9, 2023 Best Apple iPad Prime Day deals: Save on iPad Air, iPad, iPad Pro, and more [Update] ‘Loki’ accused of using AI for promo poster — but Disney just debunked this claim Twitter/X testing three new paid tiers in an effort to stop losing money 23andMe confirms stolen user data Best Echo Auto Deal: Buy now for $34.99 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for October 10, 2023
0.1734s , 9861.046875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【??? ??】Enter to watch online.JACL: Asian People Are Not a Disease,Global Perspective Monitoring