Covid-19 and Xenophobia

Johnathan Mok was beaten on the streets of London by a man shouting, “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country.” He was left with multiple fractures to his face.

In New York, a 51-year-old Asian resident was taking out her garbage when a man doused her with some kind of chemical which burned her face, neck, shoulders and back.

A 31-year-old female passenger was assaulted while riding an MTA Bx13 bus. Authorities said a group of girls hurled anti-Asian slurs at the victim and smashed her on the head with an umbrella, giving her stitches.

An Asian nurse described how she was verbally attacked in the hospital recently by a Covid-19 patient she was trying to help. The patient blamed her for the virus.

There are possibly more crimes and harassment that has not been reported targeting Asian people. Is there an increase in hate crimes targeting the Asian community due to the Covid-19 pandemic?

An atmosphere of fear has been growing due to the virus outbreak. The fear people have breeds hatred and rejection of others. It may also bring out preconceived prejudices people have.

The President calling the virus the “Chinese Virus” in a tweet certainly did not help the situation. This kind of behavior encourages prejudices and xenophobia. The origin of the virus should not matter. It was much more important to focus on response to the pandemic than to blame.

The pandemic is causing an overwhelming amount of xenophobia, blaming, and fear-mongering. The issue is dismissed often and not much is done to discourage the behavior.

Asian health-care workers experience the worst of it. They have to face the irony that they work to save people’s lives during this pandemic but are blamed by some people because of how they look.

As deaths rise and the country begins to reopen, crimes and harassment targeting Asian people may increase.

Don’t be a bystander to this harassment. No one deserves hatred because of how they look. Be diligent against xenophobic and racist behavior.

In these trying times it is important to show empathy and compassion to others. There’s a lot of uncertainty due to the virus, but all we can do is have faith. Be kind to others and trust that we will get through this pandemic together.