As the coronavirus spreads, and fears about it grow, another illness is growing along with it: racism and xenophobia.
Multiple instances of attacks on Chinese persons in the United States have been reported:
A Thai-American woman on a New York City subway captured footage of a man screaming racist comments and explicits about coronavirus. In a separate incident also in a New York City subway, another woman wearing a face mask was punched and kicked by a man who called her “diseased”. Numerous other incidences of harassment of Asians on the New York City subway followed including one where a person was seen spraying an Asian man with an unknown substance. On 10 March 2020, a woman was confronted on the subway by somebody yelling “Where is your corona mask you Asian b—h,” before punching the woman dislocating her jaw.
And it’s not just adults:
On 13 February 2020, Los Angeles authorities spoke out against a number of bullying incidents and assaults towards the Asian-American community, including a middle schooler being beaten and hospitalized. A 16-year-old boy in San Fernando Valley was also physically attacked by bullies in his high school who accused him of having the coronavirus because he is Asian American.
Asian-American businesses have been vilified, with one city having fake World Health Organization notices posted telling people to avoid Asian-American restaurants.
And, elected officials are part of the problem:
In Brooklyn, New York, a social media post was sent from the office of New York State Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus urging citizens to avoid Chinese businesses. Frontus apologized for the message blaming the incident on a part-time office assistant sharing a chain email; the staff worker was fired, and the rest of the staff ordered to complete cultural sensitivity training.[173][174] The apology by the Assemblymember then triggered a Brooklyn Community Board 13 member to post a xenophobic anti-Chinese rant on social media expressing dismay that the Assemblymember had to make an apology. That community board member was given notice by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams that his reappointment to the community board would not be renewed.
As far as we know, there have been no similar reported instances of coronavirus xenophobia in Kentucky. That’s good.
But just like an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure in dealing with the virus, so calling out such behavior before it invades our state may act as a vaccine against such racist acts.
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