By Luke M.’22
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans have increasingly become the target of racism, hate, and violence. Almost every day, it feels like we hear a new story about an elderly Asian American becoming a victim of an attack. On Monday, March 16, 2021, Former President Trump tweeted[1], “The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!.” He continuously uses this term after this date. Former President Trump also used “Kung Flu” at two June 2020 rallies. Many Americans acquired President Trump’s vocabulary by using these racially suggestive terms for COVID-19. As a Chinese/Japanese American and Asian American, I feel anger towards the use of “Chinese Virus” and more so “Kung Flu”. These terms should not be used for the COVID-19 as they have the potential to cause hate and violence towards Asian Americans.
For many Americans who do not live around Asian Americans, the only thing that they know about Asian Americans is what they see in films and on television. Often, the only Asian Americans that we see in American mainstream media are stereotypes which commonly include the Kung Fu or Martial Arts Master. Using a term that has derived from Kung Fu, would be establishing a connection between COVID-19 with the Kung Fu Asian American Stereotype that is embedded in their head. Many Americans that choose to adopt this rebellious term rather than use Coronavirus or COVID-19 are pressured to use this term by groupthink and a need to abridge their frustration. They feel a need to place the blame for their economic hardship, suffering, and loss of liberties, but what they do not consider or care about is how it will affect the Asian American community.
To the majority of people “Chinese Virus” is not as severe as saying Kung flu. It could be argued that “Chinese Virus” is similar to saying “Spanish Flu” or “Japanese Encephalitis” which have not been called Racist by many Spanish or Japanese People. These Americans will often argue that the “Chinese Virus” only has to do with the origin of COVID-19, in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. However, these people must look at the racist context of this term.
The “Chinese Virus” is a term that has been used by people who enact hate and explicit racism against Asian Americans. A UCSF study published in March 2021 in the American Journal of Public Health discovered, “One fifth (19.7%) of the 495 289 hashtags with #covid19 showed anti-Asian sentiment, compared with half (50.4%) of the 777 852 hashtags with #chinesevirus. When comparing the week before March 16, 2020 [Day of President Trump’s initial “Chinese Virus” tweet], to the week after, there was a significantly greater increase in anti-Asian hashtags associated with #chinesevirus compared with #covid19”. Another study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSUSB found that there was a 150% increase in hate crimes targeted towards Asian Americans and 24% of Americans saying that they would be somewhat too concerned about becoming close to someone of Asian descent. The Hate Crime Statistic does not even take into account the unreported hate crimes. It is obvious that the use of term “Chinese Virus” is being used to encourage hate and anger against Asian Americans who do not hold responsibility for COVID-19. Examples of violence targeted at Asian Americans in the past month include the March 17 Atlanta Shootings which led to the death of 6 Asian Americans and the discovery of the “Slap an Asian Challenge”. Other, non-physical violence is also occurring such as verbal assault, denial of service, and racial profiling due aimed towards Asian Americans. What’s more, the lack of ability to differentiate Asian subethnic groups causes assumptions of all Asian Americans as Chinese.
The “Virus Bearing Chinaman” stereotype has been one that Asian Americans have faced for over a century. During the middle of the 19th century, thousands of Chinese Immigrated to the United States and many other “western countries” including Australia and Canada. The “Yellow Peril” emerged, the idea in which Asian Immigrants shall be feared. The “Yellow Peril” was portrayed in newspapers and other forms of popular media throughout the United States. In the International Journal of Comic Art Vol. 9 No. 1, Maren Dick explains the stereotype associated with the “Yellow Peril”, “The stereotypical “John Chinaman” was considered to be unclean and unsanitary, frugal, cruel and cunning, morally debased, living in overcrowded housing, and bearing the disease and virulent disease and epidemic.” Although over 150 years have passed since the first big wave of Chinese Americans has come to the United States, the use of “Chinese Virus” and “Kung Flu” perpetuates the racist “Yellow Peril” and Yellowphobia.
A large number of Americans, including myself, believe the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Communist Party of China allowed the COVID-19 virus to spread throughout the world faster. Many individuals within Anti-CCP Communities and Movements such as the “Free Uiygurs”, “Free Hong Kong”, “Free Tibet”, and “Falun Gong” have adopted the term, “Chinese Virus”. However, this term targets the Ethnically and Nationally Chinese People as well as the CCP. According to the Oxford English dictionary, “Chinese” is defined as “from or connected with China”. The word “Chinese” is often an adjective to describe the Chinese people among other things such as the language and country. The Chinese People are also victims of the CCP’s coverup and lack of action against COVID-19; therefore, the Chinese People should not be the targets of a nickname for the COVID-19. Many in these communities may also argue that the CCP aroused the backlash against the term, “Chinese Virus”, on purpose in order to make the United States look racist in the eyes of the world. In order to create a nickname that specifically only targets the Chinese Communist Party alone, we should use the nickname, “CCP virus”.
[1]: Former President Trump’s Twitter account @realdonaldtrump, has been suspended by Twitter. The link above is a link to an HTML snapshot (Internet Archive: Wayback Machine) of the Twitter Website of Former President Trump’s tweet from March 16, 2020.
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