Race relations: what Covid-19 has exposed, Asian Americans must no longer ignore

The discrimination unleashed by the pandemic may not be a temporary aberration, after all

Taking inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement, Asian Americans must advocate for change or risk losing what little gains they have made

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A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks across a deserted Chinatown Central Plaza in Los Angeles, where many businesses remain closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, on the first day of the Lunar New Year on February 12. Photo: AFP

Amy Wu

Amy Wu is a Chinese American journalist based in New York and California who writes about cross-cultural issues.

Published: 5:30am, 24 Feb 2021Updated: 9:32am, 24 Feb 2021

It has been a year since the pandemic turned the world on its head, and amid the tsunami of changes is a disturbing feeling that something has shifted when it comes to the treatment of Asian Americans in the United States.

At first, I thought it was imagined or something temporary after Covid-19 was first recognised in the US. Chinese restaurants and Chinatowns across the country were affected, with some eateries permanently closed because of the loss of business. It didn’t help that then-US president Donald Trump repeatedly referred to the coronavirus as “the China virus”.

My father, in his early 70s, migrated to Canada and then the US to pursue his studies in his youth. He had some advice for my sister and me. “Keep your head down and a low profile,” he said, urging us to stay at home to avoid the deadly pandemic and the ugly and invisible reality of discrimination and hatred that was brewing.