Irony: Hate Crimes Surge Against Asian Americans While They Are On The Front Lines Fighting COVID-19
There have been a lot of encouraging stories about peoples’ acts of generosity and kindness during the COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, human nature has its bad side too and the crisis has brought out some of our worst qualities including xenophobia, racism and, in some cases, violence.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants in the United States have been surging. They have ranged from verbal harassment to denial of services to physical attacks. There is no way to know to what extent President Trump’s insistence on calling COVID-19 the “China Virus” may have motivated these acts, but his statement certainly didn’t help prevent them. It is true that the Chinese government acted abysmally, initially denying that the virus could be transmitted person to person. But China is hardly a democracy and the Chinese people were the victims rather than the perpetrators of this cover-up.
In fact, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants to the U.S. deserve our thanks for their role in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. First of all, they are vastly over-represented among the front line medical workers who are treating those who have been infected. Seventeen percent of doctors, 9% of physician assistants and nearly 10% of nurses in the United States are of Asian descent.
Asians and Asian Americans are also at the forefront of America’s efforts to find a vaccine. As of now, one of the most promising efforts has just been reported by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. On April 2nd, the University reported:
“Scientists today announced a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. When tested in mice, the vaccine, delivered through a fingertip-sized patch, produces antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 at quantities thought to be sufficient for neutralizing the virus.”
再看了一遍文章， 我有點不同意作者說的 "But China is hardly a democracy and the Chinese people were the victims rather than the perpetrators of this cover-up. " 我們說的華裔美國人， 他們首先應該是美國人，然後才是他們的族裔背景Chinese。怎麽把他們稱為Chinese呢？ 發生在中國的事情，怎麽會和他們有關呢？
回複 'HBW' 的評論 : 當年鬧艾滋病的時候， 如果我們身在美國， 當然是遇到白人或黑人醫護人員的幾率比遇到亞裔大的。 我估計在這種情況下，當年的亞裔病人多是不敢公開歧視醫護人員的。 其實在美國亞裔感染coronavirus 的比率在各族裔中最低， 為什麽見到亞裔就覺得倒黴呢？ 美國在二戰時把日裔關到集中營，這被認為是種族歧視。The legislation admitted that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership."[31] The U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion (equivalent to $3,460,000,000 in 2019) in reparations to 82,219 Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.
Irony: Hate Crimes Surge Against Asian Americans While They Are On The Front Lines Fighting COVID-19
There have been a lot of encouraging stories about peoples’ acts of generosity and kindness during the COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately, human nature has its bad side too and the crisis has brought out some of our worst qualities including xenophobia, racism and, in some cases, violence.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants in the United States have been surging. They have ranged from verbal harassment to denial of services to physical attacks. There is no way to know to what extent President Trump’s insistence on calling COVID-19 the “China Virus” may have motivated these acts, but his statement certainly didn’t help prevent them. It is true that the Chinese government acted abysmally, initially denying that the virus could be transmitted person to person. But China is hardly a democracy and the Chinese people were the victims rather than the perpetrators of this cover-up.
In fact, Asian Americans and Asian immigrants to the U.S. deserve our thanks for their role in responding to the COVID-19 crisis. First of all, they are vastly over-represented among the front line medical workers who are treating those who have been infected. Seventeen percent of doctors, 9% of physician assistants and nearly 10% of nurses in the United States are of Asian descent.
Asians and Asian Americans are also at the forefront of America’s efforts to find a vaccine. As of now, one of the most promising efforts has just been reported by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. On April 2nd, the University reported:
“Scientists today announced a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. When tested in mice, the vaccine, delivered through a fingertip-sized patch, produces antibodies specific to SARS-CoV-2 at quantities thought to be sufficient for neutralizing the virus.”
再看了一遍文章， 我有點不同意作者說的 "But China is hardly a democracy and the Chinese people were the victims rather than the perpetrators of this cover-up. " 我們說的華裔美國人， 他們首先應該是美國人，然後才是他們的族裔背景Chinese。怎麽把他們稱為Chinese呢？ 發生在中國的事情，怎麽會和他們有關呢？
