Coronavirus scare spurs surge in anti-Chinese sentiment

SCREEN CAPTURE / FOX NEWS

US citizens traveling from China are escorted off their flight to a quarantine area.

The coronavirus outbreak is unleashing a new wave of "yellow peril" hysteria against Chinese Americans and other Asians.

"If you look at social media and some of the news, it's fear of the 'Yellow Peril' all over again," says Russell Jeung, chairman of Asian-American Studies at San Francisco State University. 'Coughing while Asian' is like 'driving while black,' something you get stereotyped for."

We're not trying to make light of the virus. Coronavirus is real. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently labeled it a global public health emergency. 

The virus started in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, overwhelmed local officials in China's Hubei province, as victims suddenly developed pneumonia without clear causes and for which vaccines were not proving effective. It led to the Chinese government quarantining the entire province of 55 million. In Wuhan, the streets are deserted and business is at a standstill.

On Monday, the death toll in China is approaching 600, with more than 20,000 people infected.  There are a dozen known cases in the US.

Two cases of the virus have been reported in Toronto. Mayor John Tory was among the first North American officials to caution against the rise of anti-Chinese fears.

Tory said the city supports the Chinese Canadian community by releasing accurate information as often as necessary. And "we stand up as we are all doing here today to stop misleading or damaging or stigmatizing comments or actions that are directed toward any members of our community," he said.

Dr. Eileen de Villa of Toronto's Public Health emphasized that risk of contracting the virus was low and that misinformation was "creating unnecessary stigma."

"I am deeply concerned and find it disappointing that this is happening," de Villa said in the statement. "Discrimination is not acceptable. It is not helpful, and spreading misinformation does not offer anyone protection."

The US has instituted a ban. on all travelers from China except for US citizens. Citizens returning from China must undergo a 2-week quarantine at military bases in California. New Zealand, Philippines, Iraq, Indonesia and Australia have followed the US example.

On social media, attacks and harassment against Asians in New York City was blamed on the fear of the virus. 

Youtube star Michelle Phan had enough upon seeing the racist tweets against Asians. One of the offensive tweets asked why Chinese eat bats and other creatures spreading disease.

“Why do you (white) settlers give out smallpox infected blankets to Native Americans, wiping out 95% of their population?” Phan said in response.

Later in the back-and-forth exchange, Phan wrote: “Why are some of you telling me to go back to eating bats?” Phan tweeted in response. “I’m American you ignorant f—s.”

Ride-sharing drivers have turned down passengers who look Asian and vice-versa, passengers have refused rides with Asian drivers. 

Caitlin Pascua, an Uber driver of Asian American descent in the Los Angeles area, told Bloomberg News that her business has declined since the outbreak and lower ratings and fewer tips from customers.

The rising fear on top of the current climate of xenophobia spurred by anti-Chinese rhetoric coming out of the US-China trade wars is fueling racist sentiment.

“With this new virus, something was triggered that is always latently there, under the surface, which is this fear of the other and the idea that bad things come from elsewhere,” says Roger Keil, a professor in the environmental studies department at York University, who studied the impact of SARS on the city of Toronto.

Drive to change San Francisco street named after anti-Asian politician

James Phelan ran for U.S. Senator with an anti-Asian message.

ASAM NEWS

FORMER SAN FRANCISCO Mayor James Phelan left a racist legacy for opposing Asian immigration and speaking about a “yellow peril.”
A street bearing the mayor’s family name runs by City College of San Francisco and into a residential neighborhood.

Supervisor Norman Yee is now pushing for a name change and is seeking input from the neighborhood as well as City College, which had independently also taken up the idea,” reports the San Francisco Examiner.

Yee says once there is consensus, he will bring the proposed new name to the Board of Supervisors.

Does a racist deserve a street named after him?

Phelan Avenue is actually named for the mayor’s father, but many feel the association is enough to strip the family of the honor of a street name.

“At a time when the country is rethinking who deserves to have statues and parks named after them, having a “street that an institution like City College is on named after someone whose family left a legacy of racism, doesn’t reflect [our] values,” City College English professor Alisa Messner told the Examiner.

According to the SF Weekly, names under consideration include Chinese/American historian and activist Him Mark Lai; African/American dancer and writer Thelma Johnson Streat; the Muwekma Ohlone tribe that first settled the region; or just “Freedom.”

Phelan ran the city from 1897 until 1902. He also ran for the Senate using the slogan “keep California White.”

He was also quoted as saying “California is a White man’s country, and the two races cannot live side by side in peace, and inasmuch as we discovered the country first and occupied it, we propose to hold it against either a peaceful or a war-like invasion.”

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