 |
| A closeup of Donald Trump's speaking points. |
On Thursday, a Washington Post photographer captured an image of President Trump’s notes that shows the word ‘Corona’ crossed out and replaced with ‘Chinese’ in a description of COVID-19.
According to NBC, this edit appears to have been made in Sharpie in the president’s own handwriting.
This comes after the president told reporters on Wednesday that his consistent linking of COVID-19 to China is “not at all” racist.
Several Asian American nonprofits launched websites this week to monitor and report hate crimes and acts of discrimination against Asian people surrounding the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization has cautioned since 2015 against the use of geographic locations, species names or cultural terms in naming diseases.
“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, told CNN. “It’s really important that we be careful in the language we use.”
"Trump’s defense is his belief that 'It’s not racist.' It may not be racist in the conventional sense of burning a cross on the lawn of a Black homeowner or yelling racist epithets at people, but it’s still racist in the sense that indirectly reminds Chinese and other ethnic minorities that the White majority gets to decide what is or isn’t racist.," writes Loue, a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in addictions, Asian American issues and Christian counseling.
According to NBC, this edit appears to have been made in Sharpie in the president’s own handwriting.
This comes after the president told reporters on Wednesday that his consistent linking of COVID-19 to China is “not at all” racist.
Several Asian American nonprofits launched websites this week to monitor and report hate crimes and acts of discrimination against Asian people surrounding the coronavirus.
The World Health Organization has cautioned since 2015 against the use of geographic locations, species names or cultural terms in naming diseases.
“Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity or the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, told CNN. “It’s really important that we be careful in the language we use.”
Dr. Sam Louie writes in Psychology Today that Trump's defensiveness for using the racist term is a result of white privilege in that he is incapable of seeing the term from the view of those who are offended.
"Trump’s defense is his belief that 'It’s not racist.' It may not be racist in the conventional sense of burning a cross on the lawn of a Black homeowner or yelling racist epithets at people, but it’s still racist in the sense that indirectly reminds Chinese and other ethnic minorities that the White majority gets to decide what is or isn’t racist.," writes Loue, a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in addictions, Asian American issues and Christian counseling.
"The comment itself comes from Trump, who comes from a race that can make that blanket decision based on institutional power, privilege, and protection," continues Louie.
"While level-headed White Americans may ignore Trump’s comments, what’s often lost in these discussions about individual acts of racism are the pernicious and invisible systemic and institutional powers that continue to promote, disseminate, and keep White Americans in a place of racial leverage against their fellow ethnic Americans," Louie concludes.
"While level-headed White Americans may ignore Trump’s comments, what’s often lost in these discussions about individual acts of racism are the pernicious and invisible systemic and institutional powers that continue to promote, disseminate, and keep White Americans in a place of racial leverage against their fellow ethnic Americans," Louie concludes.
No comments:
Post a Comment