Corona Letters #23

To Whoever is still reading this,

Is anyone still reading this?  I mean, why would you when John Krasinski has his SGN show?

In any case, today I've decided to write about race and racism.   I've touched on this subject before, but now I'm going to dive right in.   This is always a tricky thing for me to do as a white women, so if my readers who are POC take offense to anything I've written, I offer my deepest apologies.

Anyone who watches or reads the news, or listens to our (ahem) President, knows that there is a problem with racism towards Asian-Americans and East Asians in general right now.    The President was shot down for referring to the virus as the "Chinese Virus" early on in this pandemic but, in truth, the damage has been done.  Many Asian-Americans are experiencing severe racist attacks when they are out and about, including members of my own family.  As she mentioned in a Corona Letters #21, my own daughter was refused a ride in her uber because she was Asian-American and was not wearing a mask.   Since I am white, I do not feel like I am a subject matter expert on this experience but there have been a couple really interesting articles/podcasts on this subject that I'd like to share with you.



From George Takei (or Star Trek fame): He spoke about the Asian-American experience during this pandemic on On Point.
It's worth a listen or read.

This other article I found interesting was by Janet Wu, who describes a racist encounter that she experienced on the T.

Many Asian-Americans have been in this country for generations.   Perhaps longer than many white families.   Yet, because they physically look different they are always deemed "outsiders".   Asian-Americans are very used to being asked "Where are you from?" with the real question being "Where are your ancestors from?" because no one wants to hear "Iowa."  Just ask my husband.  Generally, there is no harm meant by this questions, but it is rude, in case you were wondering.   I can't speak for all Asian-Americans, however, many(namely my husband)  of them take this question as an opportunity to drive the asker crazy with obtuse answers.  This video sums it up pretty nicely. But, now "Where are you from?" feels more pointed, accusatory and angry.  "Where are you from?" suddenly means "Did you come from China?  Did you bring the virus with you?"

This is crazy on just so many levels I don't even know where to begin.  But here are a few thoughts:
1.  Not every Asian is Chinese
2.  Not every person of Chinese background carries the virus.  In fact, very few do.
3.  This is NOT a Chinese Virus.  It is a VIRUS.
4.  Many Asian-Americans have been here longer than your family has, so leave them alone, just like they leave you alone
5. Other races carry the virus too
6. STFU

The Asian-American experience is not what prompted me to write about race today.  What prompted me to write about race today was something I read yesterday about Chinese restaurants, in China (McDonalds at least) banning black people from their establishments.  Really?  REALLY?

Now, they realized the error of their ways quickly and apologized.   It's crazy that this even happened though.   With Sinophobia rampant around the world, you would think that their would be solidarity amongst the most marginalized populations.  Or, perhaps not.   Perhaps finger pointing feels better?

The African-American population is being hit disproportionally hard by this virus.   There are many thoughts on the reasons for this, mostly around socio-economics, and also pre-existing medical conditions.   Here is an article that discusses this in more detail.  (Again, I am hardly an expert on this subject so I defer to those who are)

Even though no one believes that the African-Americans brought this virus to the US, because they are a population that seems to be more susceptible to the virus, they also experience virus related racism.    And, can you imagine the concern of a black man who has to wear a mask in public?  Unimaginable for most of us, but a scary reality for some.

There are definitely some communities who have been harder hit by this virus than others.  Only about 1/3 of the corona virus cases include any information about race, so there is really an incomplete picture about race and this virus.    We have to remember the word "disproportionate" when we discuss race and this virus, because this word gives us much needed perspective.
In Massachusetts, even with incomplete numbers, it is clear that more white people have the virus than any other race.   Again, this is to be expected because Massachusetts is, for lack of better phrasing, mostly white.

This means though, by sheer numbers, that you are more likely to encounter a white person with coronavirus than someone of any other race.  Mull that over for a bit.

Instead of finger pointing, yelling racial slurs, and condemning entire races, let's try empathy.

On a less serious, but related note, I keep thinking of Dr. Seuss's book "The Sneetches" about a group of Seussian creatures that live in a community, some with "Stars on Thars" and some without.  Those with stars consider themselves superior.   They don't include the starless in any of their fun activities and snub them whenever possible.  Eventually, a clever salesman comes into town with a machine that puts stars on those without, for a small price.   This makes those who previously had stars very cross, so the clever man offers to take their stars off, for a small price of course, making them unique once more.   This goes back and forth for a while until no one knows any more who is who.

The salesman leaves town very rich.

The Sneetches come to realize they are all the same, only after they have spent all their money though.  But, they do live happily ever after.

I think we all need to realize that we are all the same before "the clever salesman" tears us all apart.

We all have Stars on Thars!