The two pandemics: COVID 19 and Bigotry (Part 2 of 2)

In the first part of this I discussed how worrying it is to see events of racism and bigotry in the Bay Area. Now I first want to talk about this worrying trend across the nation, as there have been some terrible occurrences. Then Id like to highlight a short piece written by Congresswoman Grace Meng, Bel Leong-Hong the Chairwoman of the AAPI caucus for the Democratic Party, and Seema Nanda the Chief Executive Officer of the Democratic Party.

The occurrences of violence and hate perpetrated against Asian Americans across the nation has been on rise. While no official study has been conducted, San Francisco State published that they had found a 50% increase in articles related to incidents of racism aimed at Asian Americans. During this time one would hope that American leaders would step up, and protect their citizens, and fellow Americans. So I felt it right, that this letter called out a clear and flagrant moral failing of these leaders. By moral failings Im alluding to obvious racist dog whistles, and labeling propagated by the GOP. The letter specifically called out House minority leader Kevin McCarthy who called COVID-19 “Chinese coronavirus.” As the highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives the congressmen could have chose to lead but instead chose to endanger the 5% of the his constituents that are Asian. Further,  Arizona Republican Paul Gosar referred to it the “Wuhan Virus” in his  announcement that he may have been exposed to the virus?!? Which honestly defies sense or reason. Finally the letter takes aim at President Trump and his continued insistence of labeling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus.” I will leave this post with a few quotes from the letter which can be found here.

"The language they choose glosses over the fact that panic and fear are spreading because of Trump’s inability to lead. Instead, they chose that classic GOP tactic of blaming communities of color and immigrant communities for their party’s failures to lead."

"While Trump blames the virus on China, Chinese Americans are feeling increasingly isolated and targeted because of the president’s willingness to amplify misinformation."

"While Americans are left untreated and untested for possible infection, more than 1,000 acts of racism and discrimination–or 37 per day–have been perpetrated against people of Asian descent."


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