“Chinese virus“: the formula now used every day by Donald Trump in order to qualify the new coronavirus reminds Asian Americans of dark days, and risks fueling sometimes latent racism.
The expression, which provokes the ire of Beijing, is assumed by the President of the United States and his administration, who accuse China of charging “the high price“to the world after being slow to share information about the new coronavirus.
For Asian Americans, this refers to stereotypes that have stuck with them for a long time. Worse, this incorrectly suggests that they are responsible for the spread of the epidemic. The incidents seem for the moment limited to the United States compared to those observed in Europe at the start of the pandemic. But some episodes worry.
New York police, for example, reported that a man had chased and beaten an Asian woman who wore a protective mask on the subway last month, calling him “sick“.
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Civil rights organizations launched a website on Thursday for Asian Americans to report racist incidents or crimes related to the health crisis, to find out the extent of the problem. In the first 24 hours, he recorded 36 reports, says Manjusha Kulkarni, of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council group.
“The situation will get worse”
She points out one incident in particular: a schoolboy from Los Angeles hit a classmate of Asian origin twenty times on the head, accusing him of carrying the virus and urging him to “return“in China. According to Manjusha Kulkarni, this violence is part of an ancient history: the era of”yellow peril“, when the fear of Asians pushed the United States to ban all Chinese immigration in 1882.
“I really think that the situation will worsen, in particular because of the president who incessantly feeds hatred against certain communities“says the civil rights activist.”It behaves like a little strike and it occupies the rostrum. He has a lot of power, people listen to him“, she laments.
Donald Trump has made the fight against immigration one of his priorities, but so far he has mainly targeted migrants from Latin America or Muslim countries. The use of the expression “chinese virus“seems, according to the justifications of the republican billionaire, more linked to the geopolitical rivalry with Beijing.
“It’s not at all racist“, he assured.”I want to be precise“, he added, explaining that the virus was coming well”from china“.
The two great powers are opposed on a large number of subjects, from human rights to trade, and the controversy over the origin of the coronavirus has been added to already strained relations. Faced with the White House offensive, the Chinese authorities accused Donald Trump of wanting to diversion to avoid criticism of his own initial response, when he downplayed the pandemic. But a Chinese official also peddled an unsubstantiated theory that an American soldier brought the virus to Wuhan, his first epicenter.
“Extreme tensions”
Frank H. Wu, professor at Hastings Law School at the University of California and author of a book on discrimination against Asian Americans, acknowledges that diseases have long been baptized according to their presumed geographic origin and even considers that it is good war for Washington to criticize Beijing’s attitude.
“What is important is not motivation. These are the consequences. And these words count, because it’s a time of extreme tension“, he emphasizes.
He recalls that Asians in the United States have long been associated with a certain lack of hygiene, an image still widespread with many Chinese restaurants. “Cleanliness has always been a metaphor for who is well integrated, a good person from a moral point of view“says Frank H. Wu.”So it’s not just about the origin of the disease. It is much more symbolic than that.“
A heavy liability
In the past, Asian-Americans have already suffered from illness-related discrimination, as when authorities in 1900 closed down Chinatown in San Francisco to counter the bubonic plague. Charles McClain, who wrote a book on the history of Chinese Americans in the face of discrimination, said doctors then estimated that Asians were more at risk from the plague.
Chinatown “was very densely populated“, But “i don’t think mortality was higher than elsewhere in the city“.”Stereotypes have played a big role in public opinion“He believes. The municipality finally had to abandon the forced quarantine of the district by the justice, which had demanded evidence that the Chinese-Americans were more likely to be contaminated.
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