I have biracial children and have spent most of my life with partners who were and are Asian. Questions of racism are never far from the surface. Whenever there is a crisis, often economic, now public health, people look for a scapegoat. While it may be human nature, it is not acceptable.
Today, the lack of empathy and the implicit and increasingly explicit racial animus being invoked by the highest echelons of the United States government and not insignificant portions of the American populace should be condemned as un-American. Sadly, though, while there are strong voices of dissent in various corners of society, leadership remains silent and worse.
The history of America is chock-full of racial animus. There has been the treatment of Native Americans, the treatment of African Americans, the treatment of other Americans. Fact is, at those times, these ethnic groups were not considered Americans. And what of Asians? The Chinese are the only ethnic group to ever be wholesale banned from the United States during the Chinese Exclusion Act Period of 1882–1943. We are all facing a health crisis that respects no boundaries, yet we live in a hyper partisan time when the American ideals we profess to hold are threatened as much as our democracy and economy. The U.S. President publicly states that Covid-19 is the China Virus. A senior member of his Republican Party publicly states that Covid-19 is the Wuhan Virus. The ordinary Americans attacking Asians (whether Chinese or not) hurl epithets, beatings, and rage at those who look and act different. It is time to pull together. It is time for a change.