RACISM TOWARDS ASIANS AMIDST CORONA OUTBREAK

Social distancing across the world has led to many people looking to offload their stresses of not being able to leave their homes and performing activities to the same level of freedom they have had not too long ago. Some have attempted to minimize that stress by taking up hobbies such as culinary pursuits, knitting, and posting humorous content online.

However, in the midst of people trying to maintain our collective emotional sanity, there has been created a dark side, as a result of our frustrations.

While COVID-19 has spread across the globe with respected sources estimating over 1.5 million people having been diagnosed with the virus, the first known public diagnosis occurred in Wuhan, China. Coupled with the fact that the Asian continent is the world’s most population-dense continent, with about 250 people per square mile compared to North America’s population density of about 55 people per square mile, the disease spread quickly in Wuhan – and then beyond.

As a result, there have been numerous reports of racial tension directed towards Asians across the globe, ranging from physical violence, harassment, and taunting even in the most modernized nations.

On March 6 in London, England, student Jonathon Mok, 23, was assaulted by two boys, age 15 and 16. One of the boys, in the middle of their assault, was noted to have shouted, “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country!” Mok sustained an injury to his nose and a broken bone under his right eye, and commented that he might require need surgery following the attack.

On March 19 in Florida, a viral video was posted showing an alleged rapper chasing an elderly Asian woman with hand sanitizer, shouting “Sanitize your ass!” The details of this incident are, unfortunately, muddy. Initially, it seems the video drew mixed opinions online, with some dismissing the incident as a joke; however, outcries of racism have grown more dominant in the reaction since the incident has passed.

Australia residents have faced several incidents of racial attacks that have resulted in a collaboration of three separate organizations to report such episodes: the Asian Australian Alliance, Being Asian Australian and the Per Capita fellow Osmond Chiu. One of the project’s organizers, Erin Chew, has commented to SBS News (an Australian news website), “People reported receiving messages on social media, telling them to stop eating dogs and bats … And there’s been lots of casual racial slurs on the streets.”

Perhaps the most interesting recent turn of events due to the recent racial tensions is the large surge in the purchase of firearms, due to the fear among Asians that they might be visited with a fatal assault. In an article posted by Newsweek.com, gun owners have commented that sales of firearms have been increasing rapidly, especially in those areas associated with a large Asian community. The owner of Gun Effects, a firearms shop in California, was reported to say, “Normally, we’re a pretty busy store, but this (pandemic) made it really, really crazy.”

While the number of attacks towards Asians have been increasing, there do not seem to be any sources indicating that any have died from assaults due to racial tensions and fears over the coronavirus. Only time will tell if that remains the case.