I live in New York City, where in recent weeks there have been some absolutely horrid hate crimes against people of Asian descent. This is happening in a year when hate crimes against people of Asian descent are on the rise, as well.[1] These hate crimes are disgusting and uncalled for, and such hate crimes cannot be condemned strongly enough.
However, it is not enough to condemn the hate crimes. Instead, we should look at the root cause of them: anti-Asian sentiment related to COVID-19. More specifically, anti-Asian sentiment tied to the gravely mistaken idea that since the virus originated in Asia, people who look Asian are the cause of everything wrong with the situation in the United States (and around the world, for that matter) for the past year. Given that gravely mistaken, yet widespread, idea, it is no wonder that so many Asians have been victims of hate crimes in the United States.
Looking at the big picture, though, hate crimes against Asians during COVID-19 is actually the latest manifestation of a problem we seem to run into in the United States time and time again: if certain people of a particular ethnicity or religion are viewed as causing a crisis, then all too often everyone of that ethnicity or religion is scapegoated to the point of hate and violence.
Here are a few examples of this happening in the past century:
- In World War I, there was an outbreak of anti-German sentiment that targeted German immigrants, German-Americans, and even the German language. There was a great deal of suspicion about the loyalties of anyone German-related during this time period.[2] All of this was the result of Germany being a foe of the United States in that war.
- In World War II, people of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps by the United States, once again because of questions and doubts over the loyalties of people of Japanese descent.[3] All of this was a result of Japan being a foe of the United States in that war.
- After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Muslims and Sikhs were frequent targets of hate crimes—Muslims for being perceived as being like the terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11, and Sikhs for being perceived as being Muslim (because of the turbans Sikh men wear). Some of these crimes happened in my neighborhood in Queens. All of this was the result of a group of Muslims attacking the United States on September 11, 2001.
And now, yet again, people of a particular group are being scapegoated, in the form of people of Asian descent being scapegoated to the point of hate crimes as a result of COVID-19.
Sometimes, history does repeat itself in bad ways.
But what are the implications of the fact that this history does repeat itself in bad ways?
At a personal level, I think it reminds us that this is not a new phenomenon—that of scapegoating groups perceived as being the cause of our problems. It is an issue that has existed for many years, even before many of us were born, and what we see now is the latest manifestation of that old phenomenon.
For policymakers, a start would be to not have rhetoric and/or actions that further fan flames that result in the scapegoating of certain groups. Former President Donald Trump’s calling COVID-19 the “China Virus” could be cited as an example of this problem, but Trump is far from being the only major leader to have made this mistake. For example, the way President Woodrow Wilson spoke unapprovingly of “hyphenated Americans” did not help the cause of German-Americans during World War I,[4] and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Japanese internment camps did not help the cause of Japanese-Americans during World War II. This is not to say that the current situation for people of Asian descent would be perfect if Former President Trump had no “China Virus” rhetoric, but words and/or actions like those certainly do not help. More needs to be done than simply our leadership avoiding the scapegoating themselves, but it’s a start.
Unfortunately, history has repeated itself. However, what we can do is learn from our dealing with hate crimes against people of Asian descent and strive to be better in the future.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2021/02/27/972056885/anti-asian-hate-crimes-rise-dramatically-amid-pandemic
[2] https://www.npr.org/2017/04/07/523044253/during-world-war-i-u-s-government-propaganda-erased-german-culture#:~:text=Some%20Germans%20and%20German%2DAmericans%20were%20attacked%20during%20World%20War%20I.,-Courtesy%20of%20Jeffrey&text=The%201910%20census%20counted%20more,longer%2C%20many%20since%20Colonial%20times.
[3] https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation
[4] https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/german/shadows-of-war/
Blind Injustice 
“what we can do is learn from our dealing with hate crimes”
Thank you, Brendan.
Exactly.
But it requires learning from history, and thus learning history.
Oh, and learning.
Which is what we work on in our blogs,
so
“back to work.”
Stay safe,
-Shira
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Thanks for the comment, Shira! You are right that some of this requires learning from history, and learning history.
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Brandon, you have written a well thought out post here.
It brings out my cynicism. Unfortunately, it is in human nature to be xenophobic. Fortunately, humans are also usually dedicate to their communities. The ethics of care starts with family and moves out in circles to neighborhood, and then comes community, expanding to country and beyond. A lot of people never get past their inner circles. I do believe some can be coaxed to broaden your circle of care. My cynicism comes from thinking it is a monumental task to get past country or racial group. However, I do what I can. If we don’t try to widen humans horizon, it will definitely not be done.
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Your cynicism is definitely understandable, and sometimes I can be cynical in the way that you are here. I agree with you that widening one’s horizons is a major key though, and something that might at least somewhat reduce that “fear of the other” (a fear which leads to so many of these issues).
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I agree with Stephie above. I wish we could say that we learn from history but too many walk around with blinders on and don’t care to engage–on any level. The right, the wrong, the indifferent, and the ignorant. ugh
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Hi Faye,
It is nice that you agree with me, but my name is Stephie and I do not go by Stephanie. Stephie is my legal name and I choose it that way. It is not a mistake that is uncommon. I only wish to point it out. Being a transgender person can make getting our names right a touchy affair.
Stephie
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Thankfully, there’s a way to edit comments if you’re the author of a blog, so I edited your comment Faye so that Stephie’s name is correct. I’m guessing it was a complete accident but it’s still important to get each other’s names correct, transgender or not.
P.S. Speaking of names Stephie, I’m Brendan here and not Brandon. At this point I’m just so used to misspellings of my name though that it’s not something I worry about (some have even accidentally said “Brenda”)–obviously I’m coming from a position that I haven’t had to worry about things like misgendering or deadnaming.
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My apologies Stephie! No offense meant. Reading and typing too fast is not an excuse.
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As I said to Stephie, I think that cynicism is fair. I think we also have an issue with the fact that some of this history is not taught (or if it is taught, it’s an afterthought).
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Hey Brendan!! It’s sad how cynical we can be but yes! There is so much teaching/ learning through watching and learning. Especially children. I should have added that. Look at this post I did. Says it perfectly. http://fayeearcand.com/2021/02/04/look-at-this-picture-what-is-it-that-you-see/
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Thanks for sharing the post! I’ll need to read it.
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Not a lot of reading. Just look at the picture. It speaks for itself!!
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I agree with Stephie that it’s human nature to be xenophobic. That makes it the “easy way out” for politicians to scapegoat rather than tackling the actual complexities of a situation. We need more politicians with the courage to address the issues rather than pander to base human instincts.
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I agree that we need more politicians with the courage to address the issues rather than pander to human instinct. I think that’s a problem we had in the US with Trump and COVID.
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History does repeat itself and we should be learning from mistakes. What I don’t understand is that it seems like the minute someone/group move here from some other country, they feel they are the only ones who have a right to do so. The native Americans aside we have all come from somewhere else and been denigrated in some way with the possible exception of the English, but when someone new comes along they are automatically the group that is a threat.
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Yup. And it doesn’t matter what time we’re in, whether it be the mid-1800s with the Irish, the early 20th century with the Chinese, or now with people from Mexico and Central America.
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Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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Thanks for sharing!
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Lovely blog yyou have
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