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As COVID-19 Spreads, Chinese Americans Battle Racism

Si Yang

   Lu Ping does battle for her adopted country armed with a smartphone.

   Every day from 6 a.m. to midnight, Lu coordinates donations of masks,
   medical supplies and money to Chinese Americans Support Hospitals
   (CASH), a GoFundMe group she started with friends in response to the
   COVID-19 outbreak in the United States.

   The group's mission is to get needed supplies for hospitals in the
   Washington, D.C., metro area, which includes portions of Maryland and
   Virginia, and is known by residents as the DMV.

   "This is my home," Lu said about why she spends hours on WeChat, the
   Chinese version of WhatsApp, soliciting donations. "I must help."

   Her group is not alone. Chinese Americans throughout the United States
   are mobilizing to provide supplies and equipment to front-line medical
   professionals, even as the FBI warns of the likelihood of an increase
   in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans as the pandemic continues.

   "The community itself, just in general, is organized," Mai Ngai, a
   professor of Asian American studies and history at Columbia University,
   told [1]The New York Times recently. "Chinese have all kinds of
   associations -- some based on profession, and some based on the region
   your family comes from in China," she said. "There's a history of
   networks, and a history of coming together when there's an issue."

   A graduate of China's Zhejiang University medical school, Lu emigrated
   from Shanghai to the United States in 1998. The stay-at-home mom
   represents many, if not most, of the Chinese Americans who have built
   lives in new places that have not always been welcoming.

   "We cannot be completely separated from China," said Wei Wu, minister
   of the Chinese Christian Church of Germantown, Maryland, who co-founded
   CASH. "Whatever happens in China reflects on us, even if this is our
   home. That's why right now, we feel targeted and insecure because there
   are people here who are not happy with China."

   Critics say President Donald Trump'¯heightened this tension by calling
   COVID-19 the "Chinese virus" last month.'¯

     Close up of President [2]@realDonaldTrump notes is seen where he
     crossed out "Corona" and replaced it with "Chinese" Virus as he
     speaks with his coronavirus task force today at the White House.
     [3]#trump [4]#trumpnotes [5]pic.twitter.com/kVw9yrPPeJ
     -- Jabin Botsford (@jabinbotsford) [6]March 19, 2020

   He later said he would stop using the term.

     It is very important that we totally protect our Asian American
     community in the United States, and all around the world. They are
     amazing people, and the spreading of the Virus....
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [7]March 23, 2020

   Since COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China, late last year, it has swept
   through 209 countries, sickening 1.3 million people, and killing 75,000
   as of Tuesday. There are more than 368,000 confirmed cases and 10,000
   deaths in the United States.

   Two California-based groups, Chinese for Affirmative Action and the
   [8]Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, set up a hate crime
   reporting center in March and have recorded hundreds of incidents.

References

   1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/nyregion/coronavirus-chinese-americans-supplies.html
   2. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/hashtag/trump?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   4. https://twitter.com/hashtag/trumpnotes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://t.co/kVw9yrPPeJ
   6. https://twitter.com/jabinbotsford/status/1240701140141879298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   7. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1242202290393677829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://www.asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate/

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