Racism Targets Asians and Asian Businesses
Words by Sun Young Park
In the spring of 2020, the world was struck by a global COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory disease, has forced countries worldwide to close schools, restaurants, and non-essential industries due to widespread infection and death. Diseases and outbreaks have long been used to rationalize xenophobia: Haitian Americans were blamed for HIV, German Americans for the 1918 influenza pandemic, and Mexican Americans for the swine flu in 2009. The racist conviction that Asians bring illness goes back decades. The virus first surfaced in late 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, instilling fear and anti-Asian sentiment among Asian businesses. The pandemic is still unleashing waves of hatred and xenophobia. As a result, Asians are currently discriminated against, and Asian owned businesses have suffered serious consequences as a result of xenophobia. Therefore, it is critical to mobilize efforts to combat xenophobia and hate crimes against Asians and Asian businesses.
Former President Donald Trump, who has referred to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus" and "Kung flu," has helped normalize anti-Asian xenophobia, stoking public hysteria and racist attacks. The U.S. struggles to combat a global pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 500,000 Americans and put millions out of work. Pandemics are not explicitly described as widespread infectious diseases; they provoke social and political responses that could be motivated by long-standing anxieties about political-economic affairs, international interference, war, and social influence. In certain nations, infectious disease stigma can be greater than that of the disease itself and can play an essential role in social and institutional responses. For instance, much of the media's reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak has been a proliferation of sensationalized, misinformed, and xenophobic headlines within the United States. Equally significant, communications that normalize racism reinforce fears and exacerbate community tension. A study from the University of California at Berkeley claims, "Previous experimental research has demonstrated that news headlines can have a powerful effect on the attitudes that people adopt.” which emphasizes the importance of tracking the link between media headlines and the stories they tell raise critical questions – are they accurate? Or does it lead to the misrepresentation of the articles it introduces regularly? Also, Since the pandemic, Asians and other people of Asian descent have been the target of derogatory language and statements made by politicians and media outlets. This issue has been widely publicized on social media platforms. Social media was flooded with memes and jokes about bats and China. These reports present a straightforward narrative to the American public that focuses on China as the source of COVID-19. Understanding an Asian-looking person as Chinese, Asian, or foreign demonstrates the extent to which this racial categorization affects all Asian Americans. This vile language directed at all Asians exemplifies Asian Americans' racialization. These media normalizations of COVID and Asians are instilling fear and danger in public.
Xenophobia toward Asians is not a new emerging topic. It first emerged during the first waves of Asian immigration to the United States in the 1800s. Because of widespread prejudice and concerns about workplace competition, the Page Act of 1875 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 were designed specifically to bar Chinese American laborers from entering the country. These laws, along with others that made it difficult for immigrants to return to the United States after visiting China, were among the first to label Asian American immigrants as foreigners who didn't belong. In addition to restricting immigration, this legislation ensured that Chinese Americans would not become citizens of the United States for decades.
There are also clear examples of xenophobia associated with Chinatowns dating back to the late 19th century. Dr. Ian Mosby asserts, "Chinese bodies and neighborhoods were singled out as sources of disease and moral corruption and were, therefore, subject to a whole host of overtly racist laws and restrictions that were not applied to white neighborhoods." A New York Times article talked about whether the Chinese eat rats without any evidence. According to Dr. Ian Mosby, Chinese restaurant syndrome is "described as a syndrome which usually began 15 or 20 minutes after eating the first dish at a Chinese restaurant and lasted for about two hours." The interesting point is that the most noticeable trend was the widespread acceptance of the belief that after consuming Chinese food, people got sick more frequently than from other 'American' foods containing MSG. The study found that MSG reactions usually required doses of two grams or more. Symptoms tended to be more severe when more significant amounts were ingested. There was also a substantial difference between people in terms of their reaction to the drug. Given these results, Kenney and Tidball postulated why the Chinese restaurant syndrome tended to be specifically related to Chinese food instead of other MSG-containing items. These misrepresentations about Chinese eating rats and the Chinese restaurant syndrome demonstrate clearly xenophobic attitudes toward Chinese and non-Chinese Asians.
Asian American small businesses have been among the hardest hit by the economic recession and face racism simultaneously. According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, while overall small business owner activity decreased by 22% from February to April, Asian American business owner activity decreased by 26%. According to Wellington Chen, executive director of New York's Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation, Chinese business owners began to notice extensive consumer declines in Manhattan, Flushing, and the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. According to Chen, since mid-February, merchants in Chinatown have registered sales drops of 30 percent to 80 percent. The Flushing Chinese Business Association estimates that business has decreased by up to 40% in the Chinatown neighborhood, despite the absence of known COVID cases in New York City as of January 2020. Connie Zhang, President & CEO of Royal Queen, said that sales at the firm, which employs around 200 employees, have decreased between 70 percent and 80 percent since January. Between July and August 2020, Asian American Federation gathered over 400 responses to a survey assessing the pandemic's impact on Asian small business owners throughout the state. The majority of respondents indicated that their business was operating at reduced capacity during the survey period, and over 31% indicated that their business was temporarily closed. Over 98% of business owners reported a revenue decline, with 55% reporting a more than 75% drop. In February 2020, in New York City, the unemployment rate for Asian Americans stood at 3.4%, but in May 2020, the highest rate for all of the major racial groups was Asian unemployment at 25.6 percent. These statistics demonstrate that the Asian community has the most significant economic impact on all racial groups as a result of COVID-19. Unlike other businesses, Asian-owned businesses were impacted by COVID-19 even before there was a case in the United States, demonstrating the prevalence of xenophobia.
The pandemic did not create discrimination; yet, it did reinforce it to an unabashed level. As a result of COVID-19, a number of physical assaults have taken place in the U.S. against Asian Americans and ethnic Asians. According to the news, anti-Asian hate crime in the United States has jumped 1900% since the start of the pandemic. From March 2020 to February 2021, AAPI, a national coalition addressing Asian hate crimes amid the pandemic, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents. Approximately 80% of self-reported anti-Asian incidents occurred outside of people's private residences, in grocery stores, local businesses, and public places (Jeung & Nham, 2020). Perpetrators frequently used anti-Asian racial slurs. One of the incidents being investigated as a hate crime is the murder of eight people outside of Atlanta, Georgia, six of whom are women of Asian descent, which has only served to reaffirm the rise of violence, racism, and xenophobia. Despite President Joe Biden's condemnation of anti-Asian racism, attacks on Asians, particularly elderly Asians, have continued with alarming frequency.
Not only did hate crime have an effect on the Asian community, but it also had an effect on Asian businesses. NBC News reported on April 28th, 2020, that 30% of Americans have personally witnessed someone blame Asians for the coronavirus. The increase in violence against Asians and Asian Americans in the city adds another layer of fear and uncertainty for Asian restaurant and food business owners, who are already struggling to keep their operations running during the pandemic. According to Asian American Federation, more than 60% of respondents expressed concern for their own, their employees, and their business's safety as a result of anti-Asian bias or hate crime. According to Eater, at least 1,000 restaurants have closed since March due to the financial downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been several reports of hate crimes against Asian businesses. On the window of a Korean restaurant in New York City, the graffiti "stop eating dogs" was written (Adam, 2020). An Eater’s news article, Owners of Very Fresh Noodles located in Chelsea, say they experienced discrimination after reopening during the pandemic. They described an incident in which a white man entered their restaurant and asked one of their white employees, "Do you sell Corona?" When confronted with the question, the customer allegedly explained that he had just awoken from a night of drinking. According to the New York Times, two employees in Xi’an Famous Foods had been punched in the face on their commutes in the past few months. These incidents exemplify some people's association of Asian American businesses with COVID-19. Asian businesses must not only contend with negative economic consequences but also with the fear of hate crimes.
The pandemic of COVID-19 exposed the long-standing stigmatization of Asian Americans in American society. Recent instances of violence and allegations of racism and xenophobia have only deepened sentiment among many Asian and Asian American restaurant owners in New York City. Racist attacks have compounded the restaurant industry-wide struggles to continue operating their businesses while struggling with the pandemic's impact on the restaurant industry as a whole. I want to ask people who ate any Asian foods, enjoyed Asian culture such as anime or k-pop, and used products made in China, Vietnam, or Thailand. What are you doing currently to help the Asian community? Small actions such as posting on social media can be essential to show solidarity. Attending protests, vigils, and memorials are tangible ways of showing support. However, if you do not feel safe due to COVID-19, there are other ways to help as well. Check in on your AAPI friends and make sure they feel safe and supported. Also, if you confront racism in public, give support and attention to the victim, allowing them to get out of the situation before it worsens. You can also find resources online to educate yourself and others. Lastly, support local Asian businesses since local Asian businesses are currently vulnerable due to violence and attacks around the cities. Be a little more vocal about the current situation. Every small step counts to make a significant change.
Sun Young is a second-year MA student in Food Studies and her interests are intersections of food and culture, food and communication and food in media.