Why Asian Voices Matter in the Fight Against Coronavirus Racism
#IAmNotAVirus #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus #我不是病毒
In the months following the COVID-19 outbreak, fear and racism spread faster around the globe than the virus itself.
This month, Jonathon Mok, a Singaporean student who had been assaulted on the streets of London in a coronavirus related racist attack, posted about his experience on Facebook. In the post that has gone viral with over 66k likes and 41k shares, he said:
“Racism is not stupidity — racism is hate. Racists constantly find excuses to expound their hatred — and in this current backdrop of the coronavirus, they’ve found yet another excuse.”
In the rise of xenophobia amidst fear of the virus outbreak, many others like him have become targets of racism.
A Dutch-Chinese student was attacked, suffering from a concussion and knife-wounds, after she asked a group of youths to stop singing a racist song about the coronavirus at her. In the New York subway station, a woman wearing a face mask was called a “diseased b****” by a passer-byer before he hit her in the head when she tried to defend herself. A woman of Indian origin was beaten by an…
