Julia Shung, A04, Week 2

When I was reading Andrew Yang’s article “We Asian Americans are not the virus, but we can be part of cure” this highlighted the discrimination and racism towards the Asian community. The devastating fact is that Asians are living their lives in fear and that they are facing racial prejudice that the outbreak is the fault of China. Yang addresses that he feels self-conscious and insecure when he goes somewhere out in public because he feels like people are using their eyes to convey an accusatory message towards him. However, Asians and Asian Americans should not be ashamed of their ethnicity. People’s lives and families are being destroyed. This has become an issue that has been circulated around race, instead of focusing on what causes pandemics and how to prevent or reduce them in the future. Yang continues to mention that “the number of reported physical and verbal attacks on Asian Americans has increased dramatically. Evidence has shown that the Crisis Text Line to speak with a counselor to an increase of 160 percent” (Yang, 2020). People continue to blame Asians for the loss of their loved ones and the ability to work which puts a target on our backs. It is during times like these As an Asian American, I can vouch for the uncertainty and safety of my being as I feel like I am being judged at grocery stores and my family have become victims as well. 

People are forgetting and unable to acknowledge that when the coronavirus happened, people in China allocated their resources and knowledge to prevent the spread of this virus. Yang put it into this perspective, “Demonstrate that we are part of the solution. We are not the virus, but we can be the cure” (Yang, 2020). This quote stood out to me because instead of hiding behind closed doors, we Asian Americans should embrace who we are and show our Americaness. We want to help fight this coronavirus alongside all Americans because we are all one nation. We don’t deserve to be scapegoated and subjected to hate crimes. The bottom line is that people are constantly trying to find someone to blame.

References:

Aratani, L. (2020, March 24). 'Coughing while Asian': living in fear as racism feeds off coronavirus panic. Retrieved April 5, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/coronavirus-us-asian-americans-racism

Yang, A. (2020, April 1). We Asian Americans are not the virus, but we can be part of the cure. Retrieved April 5, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/01/andrew-yang-coronavirus-discrimination/