learntoquestion ltq discussions

Readings and Watchings:

Note: It’s important that you read and/or watch at least FOUR (4) of the 8 items listed below AND clearly reference them in your post. These are listed in chronological order; I would especially urge you to include within your choices #4 from Human Rights Watch (HRW).

1. Video from the Los Angeles Times: Epidemic of Hate: Asian Xenophobia and Coronavirus, February 3, 2020 [7:55] https://youtu.be/7nlenypkMww and the accompanying article Suhuana Hassan, “Fear of coronavirus fuels racist sentiment targeting Asians, Los Angeles Times, February 3, 2020. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z4iu--gthgMAwX2iuQdjeCkrGDwqvmTx/view?usp=sharing

2. Ivan Natividad, “Coronavirus: Fear of Asians rooted in long American history of prejudicial policies,” Berkeley News, February 12, 2020

https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/02/12/coronavirus-fear-of-asians-rooted-in-long-american-history-of-prejudicial-policies/

3. Stephanie Garcia, “’I am not a Virus’: How This Artist is Illustrating Coronavirus-Fueled Racism,” PBS, April 1, 2020. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/i-am-not-a-virus-how-this-artist-is-illustrating-coronavirus-fueled-racism

4. “Covid 19 fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide,” Human Rights Watch, May 12, 2020.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide

5. Anna Purna Kambhampaty and Haruka Sakaguchi, “’I Will Not Stand Silent.’ 10 Asian-Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality.” Time, June 25, 2020.

https://time.com/5858649/racism-coronavirus/

6. Article and video: Erin Donaghue, “2,120 Hate Incidents Against Asian Americans Reported During Coronavirus Pandemic,” CBS News, July 2, 2020 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-asian-american-hate-incidents-up-racism/

7. Sarah Li, “Anti-Asian Hate Has Surged during the Coronavirus Pandemic, Reports Find,”

Teen Vogue, September 18, 2020.

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/anti-asian-racism-stop-aapi-hate

8. Felix Sitthivong, “Coronavirus has sparked another epidemic in my prison: Anti-Asian Racism,” The Marshall Project, December 3, 2020. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/12/03/coronavirus-has-sparked-another-epidemic-in-my-prison-anti-asian-racism

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The President repeatedly refers to it as the “China virus” or the “Asian flu.” Insofar as we first became aware of a COVID-19 in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, that association has regrettably stuck for many Americans. And what it has unleashed, not only in the United States but in far-flung places around the world, is anti-Chinese vitriol and, because of the long history of Asian interchangeability by non-Asians, anti-Asian views more broadly.

Xenophobia directed at Asians isn’t new, as we will see this week in class. What COVID has inspired is just the latest in a long history of anti-Asian hate.

The Asian population in the United States, according to the US Census (as of 2018), as of, is believed to number 22.6 million people, roughly 5.6% of the total population in the nation. According to the Pew Research Center, Asian-Americans constitute the “highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States.”

So many non-Asians can’t distinguish among Asians—witness Valerie Soh’s keenly observed short All Orientals Look the Same [pointedly using the pejorative term, “Orientals”] so they lump Asians all together. Not unlike the Native American voices we heard in December who wish that we would identify Native peoples by their tribes and not label them all “native” or “indigenous,” many Asians too wish people would acknowledge their specific places of origin, their differing circumstances, cultures, and histories, and not simply assume that “sameness.” Yet we know that this is not the reality in the United States of 2021.

So why the hate? And why is this hate not new but is based in a long history of anti-Asian discrimination? And why are most non-Asians—and some Asians--minimally aware of this history?

Maybe those are foolish questions. What we know from our work on discrimination and othering thus far is that issues of “us” and “them,” “superiority” and “inferiority,” the desire to identify an “in group” and an “out group” govern much of human interaction.

So how have Asians—who we already know are classified as “white” when it’s convenient (think of the example of the Boston School Committee) and are also classified as “other” or “POC”—confronted this othering? The latest version may be triggered by COVID but we know this has a long and sordid history. How does this relate to what we saw with Executive Order 9066 (in the film Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066 that you watched for Tuesday/Wednesday class)? And what should non-Asians do today to be allies in response to what these articles, the film, and the video clips chronicle?

Please weigh in on these questions in a thoughtful, well-supported post, supported by what you learned from class, from the readings and from what you know from your own experiences. And please do post a question for the next person to post (and respond to the question posed prior to your posting!).

As an Asian American myself, “anger” and “fear” are some of the first words to come to mind when I think of this past year. Like the thirteen year old who feared to let their grandparents out in fear of them facing harassment or any form of abuse in the TeenVogue article, I also feared for my family members. During the height of the crisis, my social media was full of videos of xenophobic hate crimes. Southeast Asians being called “Chinese”, Asian American businesses being vandalized, and physical and verbal abuse towards Asians. I was not allowed to go out to play at my local park by my parents out of fear of abuse from my others, not the virus itself. The media’s use of “China virus” and justifying its name by saying it did come from China despite harsh push back, angered me beyond measure and brought front and center this country’s ignorance and racism.

Arguably the most infamous character of 2020, only made it worse. Donald Trump’s consistent public attacks on China made it seem justifiable to turn the world on Asians. This couldn’t help but remind me of the Executive Order 9066 that fueled xenophobia and physically separated Asian Americans for no real cause except unjustified fear. Though Donald Trump did not sign an order to divide Asian Americans, he helped create an environment of where it was seen as justifiable. I support the Black Lives Matter movement fully, but one of the most over shadowed acts of racism was the xenophobic attacks towards Asian Americans. Though I recognize not everyone is like this and a small group of people do not represent a whole race, it seemed like no matter what race they were, everyone seemed to turn against Asian Americans and not enough media coverage was giving it attention. The fear of a virus that has been called many different names to blame China has been one of most infamous acts of racism this past year.

The rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Asians across the world is a testament to how much this world still has to learn about racism. In the “Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide” article, it stated that there has been a rise not only in the United States but world wide. Leaders across the world need to step up and address this issue and attack it in an effective manner. In the US, this has been especially slow. Donald Trump’s presidency has done nothing but fuel the crimes against Asian Americans. In order to be an ally, people need to help step up and address these issues. When hate crimes are being done, bystanders should become heros. Protect the victims. As with any hate crime, it is emotionally and sometimes physically scarring. Educate yourself. Not only about the virus but about different Asian cultures in general. One of the most ignorant things that's happened in 2020, is the grouping of all Asians into the umbrella term, “Chinese”. This deeply rooted form of racism is an ugly mark on this society.

My question is: What, in your opinion, should be done in school environments to support and protect Asian American students? I feel as though they’re the ones who suffer the most out of all age groups and should be helped because this is emotionally scarring.

“‘It’s more like a feeling that you recognize when you are used to being subjected to racism, which is glances and people moving away,’ Sjöblom said. ‘You’re very conscious about yourself and if you cough and you feel really surveillanced’” (Stephanie Garcia, “’I am not a Virus’: How This Artist is Illustrating Coronavirus-Fueled Racism,” PBS, April 1, 2020).

What Sjöblom says in this quote describes my exact feelings when it comes to racism towards Asian Americans, especially back in January/February when there was news of a novel coronavirus that has appeared in Wuhan. I saw a lot of social media posts of hate crimes towards Asians, especially one video in particular of an elderly Asian man who was robbed and assaulted by a group of men, who attacked him for no reason except for the fact that he was Chinese. I remember being afraid that my own grandma or parents would go out and come back home injured because they were attacked by people who think that targeting Asians is the solution to their problems. Reading the article titled “Coronavirus has sparked another epidemic in my prison: Anti-Asian Racism”, puts into perspective for me how universal these feelings I had were among many other Asian Americans, and it’s sad that we all feared that our families would be the next victims of assault. Sjöblom’s drawing of an Asian girl being told to get off the bus because she was Asian reminds me of my own experience on the train, where people would avoid sitting near me because I was wearing a mask (this was back when people were not told to wear masks yet) and the fact that I was Asian. It’s a feeling that makes you feel like you’re unwelcomed, and this was also mentioned in “’I Will Not Stand Silent.’ 10 Asian-Americans Reflect on Racism During the Pandemic and the Need for Equality” that even wearing a face mask could provoke an attack. Although my experience did not lead to anything severe, it was still an unpleasant experience.

In the film that we watched about Executive Order 9066, we saw that propaganda and hateful speech spread because of government officials who claimed that there were Japanese spies in America, and therefore spread this nationwide fear of Japanese people. As mentioned in “Covid 19 fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide,” there were several examples of government officials and politicians across the world who mocked and ridiculed Asians, and most notably, from President Trump, who called COVID the “Chinese virus” or “Kung flu”. Like @Heyo8 mentioned, these officials who publicly said these words allowed for people to justify their racist actions against Asian Americans, and it’s sad to see that nothing has really changed since Executive Order 9066. There were many Asian Americans and news outlets that did speak up on these issues of xenophobia against Asians, but it seems as though after a few months, people just forgot about it, despite it still happening. It’s also so normalized that people generally disregard it as a joke whenever Asian Americans do call out racism, especially on social media, where people comment things like “oh you just can’t take a joke”.

I feel like non-Asians could be allies by really educating and reflecting on the many things that they may have witnessed or said themselves that are actually really offensive towards Asians. So many people find mocking someone’s broken English or saying things that “sound” like languages spoken in Asia as comedic. I remember being constantly asked what “ching chong makahiya” meant when I was younger, and perhaps they had asked because they were naive and genuinely thought it meant something in Chinese, but it doesn’t and it is indeed offensive and racist. So, reflect on what you used to believe or what you still do believe, and be open minded about these issues. It is not your place to determine whether or not something is a joke because if the joke mocks and offends a whole group of people, I don’t think it can be considered a joke.

As for @Sleezmoth’s question about whether or not racism against Asian Americans will begin to be publicized, and why there is still so little coverage on it, I personally think that it will not be publicized that much because it is so normalized. Like I mentioned before, racism against Asian Americans is often played off as a joke and invalidated because of that, and not many people are willing to listen to people who speak out about the issues. Though, I hope that changes in the future.

My question is: do you think that these harmful stereotypes come from lack of knowledge of Asians and the many cultures within Asia? If so, do you think that changing the school’s curriculum to have more Asian representation would help combat this?

I noticed a pattern in all of the articles in that they all relate to the coronavirus and how that has fueled more racism and hate crimes toward Asians. In “Fear of coronavirus fuels racist sentiment targeting Asians” by the Los Angeles Times, 26-year-old Katherine Lu says, “The coronavirus is an opportunity for them to safely express their racist thoughts in a way that can be excused.” I think she summed it up perfectly. People feel that it’s alright for them to make racist remarks, even the President of the United States. Donald Trump has openly made racist remarks about Asians, calling the coronavirus “Kung Flu” or “Chinese Virus”. As if us being #1 in COVID cases and deaths, isn’t a large part of his doing. I think more people feel enabled to make racist sentiments because they saw the President doing it. We can see examples of the rise of it in Erin Donaghue’s article, “2,120 Hate Incidents Against Asian Americans Reported During Coronavirus Pandemic”. In the article, Donaghue discusses that over 2,100 anti-Asian American hate incidents have happened over the course of just 3 months between March and June. A majority of the incidents were related to China and the coronavirus. These kinds of incidents are happening not only in the United States but in other countries such as the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, France, and more. But even before the coronavirus, racism against Asians was something that was/is normalized.

There is a deep history of racism against Asian Americans in the United States dating back to the 19th century. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law in the US that prohibited immigration based on race. Another example was the Executive Order 9066 which was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, which was created to remove and incarcerate Japanese and Japanese Americans. I had no knowledge of these moments in our history until recently. The schools I’ve attended never taught the students about these dark moments in our country’s history. We learn the same information over and over again. I’ve been blessed to attend BLS, where some of my teachers have taught me about these topics that seem to be excluded from our textbooks. Most likely because the US is ashamed of its past and wants to seem like it’s always been a great country. Like many other issues, one of the best ways that we can help is to educate ourselves, even though schools should be doing that nation-wide. Also if we see an act of racism or hate happening whether it’s online or in person, we shouldn’t stand by and watch. We need to better educate ourselves and be conscious of how we think of others.

To answer @dewdropdoll’s question, I think these stereotypes do come from a lack of knowledge about the different cultures and subcultures in Asia. I 100% think that if school-wide curriculums included more Asian representation, and even other groups of people, that it would help. Learning the history and culture of others besides white people, would allow young kids and teenagers to understand the misconceptions and stereotypes that have been/are hurtful to many people.

My question for the next person is, do you think because of Donald Trump people have been more xenophobic toward Asians in the last 4 years, or has it always been at this level?

Something I think about when I think about anti-Asian racism is comparing Japanese internment camps to how Italian prisoners of war were treated. My mom and grandmother have told me stories about how during WW2, every sunday night the prisoners of war would go to people’s houses and have dinner, then they would have dances with the prisoners of war. Meanwhile American citizens were locked up and isolated illegally because of their race. I always think of this and how it shows the double standard applied. Foreign prisoners being treated better than American citizens because they were white.

In 2020 we saw a rise of anti-racism due to COVID, although we all know COVID has nothing to do with race. In march, before everything closed down my family went to Dim Sum in Chinatown, and it was basically deserted. Economically, Asian owned businesses have been hit harder by the pandemic due to the rise in anti-Asian racism and people not wanting to go to Asian owned restaurants. In the Time article where people shared their experiences with anti-Asian racism during the pandemic, the one that stood out to me was Douglas Kim’s, who owns a Michelin-star restaurant. Not only was his restaurant vandalized, but he also had to shut it down due to fear that his employees would be attacked on public transportation on their way to work. The fact that people are too scared to go to work is awful and shows that we haven’t made much progress in the last century.

I think that just like with any other type of racism, the best thing to combat anti-Asian racism is education. People are less likely to other people if they know more about them and their culture. In school we often talk about discrimanation faced by African-Americans but we don’t talk as much about the marginalization of other groups whose experiences are just as important. The media often doesn’t focus on the stories of Asian people being attacked because of their race, which leaves many people ignorant of the racism they face.

In response to @berry’s question I think that it was a problem, but like a lot of other things Trump has made it worse by making more socially acceptable to express xenophobic views toward Asians

My question is do you think that COVID related racism will spark a conversation around anti-Asian racism and lead to progress?

I will never understand why people will make it their goal to insult and fully disregard the fact our differences are the very thing that makes us human. There is absolutely no reason, nor toleration that should be allowed when discriminating against an entire group of people. How do complete strangers feel entitled to comment on someone’s appearance or the way they talk without even getting to know them?

This hate has never been new, it has been ignored. This hate has been swept under the rug for centuries. Not until December of 2020 did I learn about the Chinese Exclusion Act. Not until TODAY did I learn that, “Tseng pointed to the immigration station at Angel Island where, between 1910 and 1940, over 225,000 Chinese and Japanese immigrants were detained under oppressive conditions for as long as six months” from (Coronavirus: Fear of Asians rooted in long American history of prejudicial policies) or that, “Public health authorities, in turn, misrepresented Asians as diseased carriers of incurable afflictions, like smallpox and bubonic plague, as a means to justify anti-immigration policy and to drum up hysteria against Asian immigrants, who were perceived as a threat to white Americans for jobs” (Coronavirus: Fear of Asians rooted in long American history of prejudicial policies). This information dates back over 130 years ago, and it's shameful that I only know about these things until now.

There is a reason why students across Boston Latin School, one of the most prestigious schools in Massachusetts, rarely learns about Asian-American history. It is because racism against minority groups is what withholds pro-nationalist and pro-white motives. To not share Asian-American and other POC struggles is to completely disregard what this entire country was built on.

Now I do not have the same experience, I do relate to this topic in similar ways. I can’t speak for Asian-Americans but I would like to assume that through immersing themselves in their culture they are able to find that their race does not boil down to the other category. It is diverse and multitudinous and should be embraced, even though society tells them not too. I read through the Article (‘I am not a virus.’ How this artist is illustrating coronavirus-fueled racism) that parents have to show and explain to their kids that racist remarks will be made against them. The constant hatred and attacks can lead these young children to want to be white as seen here, “It’s actually based on my son after the attack in London. We were there visiting my partner’s family and my partner is also white. We were sitting in a cafe, and my son said to my partner, “Look around you. There are only three people here who look different and that’s me and my sister and mama. Everybody else looks like you. And I wish that I could look like you.” And he talked a lot about that for a long time afterwards, that he wanted to be white”.

The parallels between the film and what we see today in our own government is uncanny. During World War II about 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated. It sheds light on the fact that the government was able to cover up this event for so long, without any repercussions for decades. This film shows how excessive and authoritarian use of racist rhetoric can dehumanize an entire ethnic group for centuries. We see it today when Donald Trump calls the Coronavirus the “Kung Flu” or “China Virus”. This issue goes beyond our borders, it's in Italy when, “The governor of the Veneto region of Italy, an early epicenter of the pandemic, told journalists in February that the country would be better than China in handling the virus due to Italians’ “culturally strong attention to hygiene, washing hands, taking showers, whereas we have all seen the Chinese eating mice alive” and in Brazil, “Brazil’s education minister ridiculed Chinese people in a tweet suggesting that the pandemic was part of the Chinese government’s “plan for world domination.” (“Covid-19 Fueling Anti-Asian Racism and Xenophobia Worldwide) It's disheartening to listen to these acts of hate against Asian Americans, especially when racism against Asian Americans is rarely ever talked about. Their issues are shaded by the statistics that they have, “highest-income” and “ best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States.” Their struggles are real too.

As we’ve studied in this class and have seen throughout history, people have a history of “othering” and scapegoating. When a group of people is seeing hardship, many resort to blaming others for their own failures. Hitler and the Nazi regime used Jewish people as scapegoats for their failures, and enough people that shared a similar discontentment with their status felt empowered to blame a group of people that had done nothing at all.

As the Human Rights Watch article says, “the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering.” The whole world has seen devastating loss this year, and people want someone to blame. Rather than blaming local and federal legislators that failed to properly prepare for or control the virus, people blame those that look different from them. Donald Trump, a leader we should be able to trust at this time, has only perpetuated this racist rhetoric. He has been quick to label COVID-19 the “Chinese virus,” but slow to actually take action. Trump has set an example in this nation of racism and blaming others, rather than holding himself accountable for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost due to his complete mismanagement of the virus.

However, as we learned in class, this anti-Asian hate is nothing new. Much of this hatred has also been scapegoating, Vincent Chin’s murder due to the increase in job loss. People use hardships of their own to justify racist behavior towards others. People also (like our President and his supporters) have the competitive idea that America must be first in everything, and must be truly “great again.” This idea has long been at the forefront of American values, and many believe America to be the greatest country in the world. As we’ve seen, however, this so-called greatness is often at the cost of those that pose any threat. Through this, America has a history of racist and xenophobic policies and attitudes. COVID-19 has only brought these racist attitudes in America (and across the globe) back to light. As the Berkeley News article says, “History is resurfacing again, with China becoming a stronger country and more competitive and a threat to U.S. dominance today, just like Japan was a threat in the second world war.” As China has grown to compete with our economy, people feel resentful towards them. This no longer fits their idea that America is superior in every way. So, people harbor these resentments (that have absolutely nothing to do with Asian-Americans; perhaps, see how Donald Trump has hurt our economy), and feel COVID-19 is an adequate excuse to spew racist rhetoric.

Asians have been confronted with racism for a long time in the United States, often backed by lies, as “Alternative Facts: The Lies of Executive Order 9066” showed. The title strikes a resemblance to today’s idea of “alternative facts in media,” and with the rise in anti-Asian hatred, a startling idea that history is repeating itself in some ways. While 120,000 Japanese-Americans were incarcerated as a result of Executive Order 9066, the parallels between that time and today’s racist rhetoric is startling. During COVID-19, there have been terribly high numbers of “potential civil rights violations including workplace discrimination, people being barred from establishments or being prevented from using transportation” (CBS). These discriminations have the power to completely ostracize an entire group of people, just as incarcerating so many Japanese-Americans did.

Recently, Asian-Americans have confronted this hate with groups such as “STOP AAPI HATE.” Some such as Haruka Sakaguchi, have turned the inner turmoil caused by racist outbursts towards them into art. At a time in the United States that has also seen unprecedented support for the Black Lives Matter movement, I found it particularly interesting that Sakaguchi said “Cross-racial solidarity has long been woven into the fabric of resistance movements in the U.S.” (Time) Asian Americans standing in solidarity with Black Americans and other communities of color empowers everyone involved.

This is why the allyship of non-Asians is so important. Standing in solidarity with Asians and combating the racist lies is critical in empowering these groups. When someone is in a position of any privilege, they have an obligation to use that privilege to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced. Allies must not make room for this racist behavior in society, and must stop the normalization of it. Many of the incidents we read about in class spoke of how anti-Asian rhetoric has been normalized as a “joke.” This cannot become normal. America must come to an understanding that as awful as this virus has been, berating and assaulting people that have nothing to do with it is never acceptable. People must speak out when they see racist lies being spoken, especially when our own president is speaking them. The idea of anti-racism applies to every race. It is not enough to not be racist yourself, one must be anti racist.

To answer @mellifluously, I think BPS determined Asian-Americans as white because the stereotypical image of an Asian does not portray their skin tone as such a stark contrast to white as other race’s. The fact is, though, Asian-Americans are not afforded the same privileges that white people are, and this categorization is harmful. I think the school committee did not think it was racist. I do not think they would have done so if they knew it was racist, even if just for publicity reasons. Their ignorance, however, is clear. I believe this categorization was racist, but perhaps not one they recognized consciously initially. I wonder, though, if they had spoken to any Asian-Americans about this decision. If they had, were they in agreement with the decision made.

My question for the next student is: do you think the COVID-related racism towards Asian-Americans will inspire new conversations and actions regarding this racism, or do you think the racism will only get worse due to it?

Recently, racist attitudes towards Asians in general have skyrocketed along with the spread of the coronavirus. However, this is not new by any means. Every time the United States has conflict with an Asian country, there are people who group that country with all of Asia, and express their racist thoughts. As stated in the Berkely article, the “original history of xenophobia and racism in America from the 19th and 20th centuries is coming back.” It also included a comparison comparing Japan in world war 2 to China today. Today, China is a larger threat to the global position of the U.S., and the virus gives people an easy topic to vocalize their racist ideas on. One way to confront othering, as suggested by the Berkely article, is to change the way that people and cultures are described. Another way that Asians have confronted othering is by calling out people and groups who use things such as the coronavirus as a reason to blame all Asians for their troubles. In the Human Rights Watch article, it comments on how there are government leaders who “directly or indirectly encourage hate crimes, racism, or xenophobia by using anti Chinese rhetoric.” One of the most glaring examples of this is the president, who frequently refers to the coronavirus as the “China virus.” In fact, the problem is so widespread that according to the CBCNews article, there were more than 2100 anti Asian American hate crimes as a result of Covid 19 between March and June of 2020. The purpose of many of these articles is to educate people on what has been happening, and by doing this, the effects of othering can be somewhat mitigated.

The movie, Executive Order 9066, is about the xenophobia and racism towards Japanese people during world war 2. This connects to the current events going on with the coronavirus and xenophobia because they are similar in many ways. Despite the fact that each of these spikes in racism was initially towards a certain group of people, they both extended to being racist to anyone with Asian background.

In order for non Asians to become allies, there are many changes that need to be made. First of all, everyone needs to be educated on both current events as well as the history of xenophobia and racism towards Asians. In the Times article, several people share their stories about how they were put in uncomfortable or dangerous situations because of the othering. This article is helpful in revealing the shocking events that occur every day.