Another ‘Other’

0

In the last year, Asian Americans have suffered at least 3,795 hate incidents. The upsurge in this disturbing trend seems to stem from some level of “blame” associated with the coronavirus outbreak in China, and the taunting, finger-pointing and name-calling that was shared widely as the dreaded virus spread around the world.

The pandemic has put us all on edge. But there is absolutely no excuse for the transfer of blame for the virus or anything associated with it to our Asian American community generally, or to elderly Asian Americans who have been attacked while walking through the streets of several major metropolitan U.S. cities.

It makes no sense. But reading the reports and hearing the disquieting stories of the Asian American victims makes it real. And for our community, the stories are disturbingly familiar.

In a recent article in The Washington Post, Jeff Chang described the thinking behind epithets like “China virus” and “Kung flu” as the result of “the twisted logic that connects two opposed, infernal ideas: that Asians and Asian Americans are impure and inferior — and if not stopped, they will conquer our world.” Disturbing, indeed. Replace “Asian” and “Asian American” with “Jew,” and long-lived and reviled anti-Semitic canards are brought back in full color. Quite simply, blaming a Chinese American grandmother in New York City for the spread of the coronavirus is not much different from believing that your grandmother has control of Jewish space lasers.

During the past few years, we have seen a distressing reawakening of aggression and hate crimes against minorities, including a serious uptick in anti-Semitic activity. Our sense of complacency has been disrupted. As the poisonous infection of hate grows, other vulnerable communities are inevitably targeted. Suddenly, our nation of immigrants transforms into a nation of scapegoats, as we fall victim to a rising blame culture and the politics of anger.

We can do better, and we must. We need to stop the hate and embrace the hated. Our Asian American friends have done nothing wrong. Yet they have suffered a disturbing history of anti-Chinese immigration legislation, anti-miscegenation laws and the internment of Japanese Americans. Today’s threats and violence are unfortunately nothing new — the animosity and hate simply never went away. And now, they are simply rearing their ugly heads, again.

We urge our community to see the recent threats and attacks on Asian Americans as a wake-up call. This is our opportunity to reach out to our neighbors and to give them comfort, support and empathy. That is the way coalitions of caring and relationships of trust are built.

Let’s make clear to our Asian American neighbors that they can count on us. We will certainly appreciate their support when the wheel turns. But beyond that, it is the right thing to do.

Never miss a story.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Email Address

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here