Yicheng Wang, ASA2 A02, Week 1

2020, a brand-new decade, starts with the spreading of coronavirus in an increasing rate.  

Image: https://www.nature.com/collections/hajgidghjb

This is definitely a shock to the entire world, affecting every field of work and even people's daily life. Unemployment, racial discrimination and economic problems, along with numerous issues arise. I was impressed by what President Trump shared; there are trucks outside the hospital, taking lots of black body bags, in the community he grew up (WABC, 2020). Then my university, UC Davis, shut down as well from the last two weeks of winter quarter. However, when I was walking on campus, I came across a crazy old man; he almost abuses and shouted out to every Chinese passing by. I also noticed that the majority of people who wear a mask are asian, or even Chinese, including me. We wear mask on the account of preventing virus’ spreading from others while people are talking loudly or sneezing. On the contrary, American think only people who are infected would wear mask because of CDC’s announcement toward COVID-19. Thereby, racial discrimination appears. Under such a circumstance, I read the article “Fight the Tower” which was written by Valverde; a sentence she described deeply resonate with my heart and mood, saying that “Sadly, the vast majority continues to endure the violent onslaught feeling isolated and alone, unable and sometimes unwilling to seek assistance and fight”(Valverde, 2020). “The violent onslaught feeling” comes once those who don’t wear mask stare at me with strange eyes.

Hence, in this course, I want to hear more about how asian American fight against “the violent onslaught feeling” and eliminate racial discrimination. This would determine my mind to stay in United States for school, and fight against the coronavirus instead of xenophobia.

Question: Will international students be treated differently in the hospital if one of them is infected?

References:

Valverde, K.-L. C., & Dariotis, W. M. (2020). Fight the tower: Asian American women scholars resistance and renewal in the academy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Wabc. (2020, March 30). Coronavirus News: President Trump shaken by scenes from New York hospital. Retrieved from https://abc7news.com/coronavirus-nyc-new-york-city-elmhurst-hospital-queens/6062561/