Category: Discussion Board 12

I will choose “Coronavirus&Yellow Peril” by Amanda Yee as my framework. Here, the question that arises is about the coronavirus that occurred in China. When I read this excerpt, I found that most reporters have already commented on this The virus itself has serious prejudices. However, China’s slowly starting economic recovery stimulated the nerves of Western countries, which led to those ignorant comments. For the story, I chose Alice Tsui’s “Tired”. During this period, in Western society China started targeting Asians, and they started verbal attacks. For resources, I chose “Wash your hands” by Malaka Ghairab. This is a way to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

For Framework, I chose PROTECT CAREGIVERS by Ai-jen Poo & NDWA. It discusses how caregivers are not being provided with access to health care, paid time off or job security. They are front liner who “support some of the most at-risk populations, particularly older people, young children and the range of people with compromised immune systems” and they don’t have the same resources as other workers. They provide evidence that caregivers need more care and they should have given more resources and protection. They are at risk.

For stories, I chose TIRED OF BEING ASIAN by Alice Tsui. It talks about how someone who has somewhat or is relations with Asian is being targeted because of the coronavirus. How there were times where “Asian-sounding last names not being picked up for rideshares; racist slurs targeted towards Asian people who coughed on a subway; and people moving away from Asians with a face mask”. Asian are being discriminated against. Tusi also talks about how she is tired of constantly having to stand up to explain. I picked this excerpt because the title stood out to me as being an Asian myself. I experienced this targeted a lots when the virus was just being known. 

For resources, I chose ‘WASH YOUR HANDS’ by Malaka Ghairib and Wanyu Zhang. It is a guide that helps to slow down the coronavirus, first it says to wash our hands after using the bathroom or being in a public place for 20second with soap and water. Second, when you sneeze, do it with your elbows to prevent the germ from getting in your hands or to the air. And third, don’t touch your face as that is the place where germs enter your bodies. It is what struck me first as that is what we’ve been told everyday in our whole life and now there is a virus spreading, it being told all over the news. It is really important for people to follow to help slow down the virus for everyone whether it is your yourself, your family or stranger.

For frameworks, I chose “Coronavirus & Yellow Peril” by Amanda Yee. The issue of this excerpt is that the overall media about the COVID-19 is used as a metaphor for the “Chinese virus” and the Chinese government itself. She states that ““There’s a lot of similarities between coronavirus coverage and the way mainstream media covered Ebola a few years ago.” Media outlets report that virus is a country’s virus by substituting it for a country’s image. Bad news travels fast. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeii also called China a ‘central threat of our time’ and claimed that the Chinese government has challenged Western democratic values. Amanda says these comments about the Corona virus are intentional, a stark indication of U.S. anxiety over the rising economic and political impact of China.

For stories, I chose “Tired” by Alice Tsui, musician & educator. In this story, she shares her feelings she is been going through since the coronavirus broke out. How can young students know the truth when the Ministry of Education jokes about the virus itself? Even Asian educators are being racially discriminated against. I think educators also need guidance to correct racist remarks.

For resources, I chose “Wash your hands” by Malaka Ghairib and Wanyu Zhang. They share daily routines about the COVID-19. 1. Wash your hand often. 2. Sneeze into your elbows. 3. Avoid touching your face. These actions are that we must do after we faced the COVID-19. Even though these are very simple, everyone does not practice them. It is very important to follow the rule to overcome this pandemic as soon as possible.

For resources, I chose media coverage recommendations. The problem at hand here is directed specifically towards journalist covering the pandemic and those affected. The focus is portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans. According to these resources, the portrayal is in the negative which fuels xenophobia and racism against Asians. The resources go on to name things reporters should refrain from doing,such as recording generic views of Chinatown and avoid using phrases like “Wuhan Virus”, “Chinese Coronavirus”, and “China Coronavirus.” For stories, I picked ‘Tired’ by Alice Tsui. Tsui writes about how common anti-Asian sentiments have become during this pandemic. There has been a huge increase in slurs and verbal attacks against Asian American’s because they are seen to have “started” the coronavirus. She provides various amount of instances of people making nasty comments in public at anybody who “looks” Asian. The notion that Asians are more likely to have corona simply because of the way they look is obviously ridiculous. And for Frameworks I chose “With love, from the end of the world” by Kai Cheng Thom. This statement by Kai Cheng Thom, helps us understand the discontent among the people due to the most powerful people in America. In 2016, when Trump was elected, it affected  many people’s lives, most of them are gay and Black. In the years that followed, many brutal catastrophes occurred. I chose these excerpts because the all seem to be relevant topics that I hope will cease to exist even after the pandemic. Xenophobia, discrimination and  gender-based violence, will continue to be relevant topics that affect everyone, especially marginalized groups specifically Asian demographics that have been affected more in this pandemic. What especially stood out during the pandemic was increase emphasizing on the systematic racism and other social injustice problems as if these topics were not occurring before the pandemic.

Frameworks- Sakhi’s, “Gender Based Violence During the Covid-19 Crisis” is an excerpt that I took interest in because the title struck me. I never knew situations could get so out of hand even with the pandemic going on. As I was reading this excerpt, I learned that the pandemic has a heavier impact on people that have no outside support. Sakhi advises people to check on their loved ones despite the severity of the pandemic. Undocumented immigrants have a higher chance of staying inside with these perpetrators and stay victims of domestic violence because if they need to go to the hospital, they refrain from doing so because they risk their document status being exposed. This makes them live in more fear than they already are in when living with perpetrators of violence. Cases of domestic violence went up drastically in China in February all because of the pandemic. In this, Sakhi gives tips to these immigrants if they end up in a violent situation.

Stories- Alice Tsui’s, “Tired of Being Asian” is an excerpt that exposes some examples and first hand experiences of Asians as they are discriminated against. Most of these discriminatory statements towards these Asians tied back to the idea that the pandemic is all the fault of China and it is a “Chinese virus”. I took interest in this excerpt because the title pretty much gave me an idea that it would be a juxtaposition. The content would not be about not liking being Asian, but it would rather be about other people wanting Asians to feel bad for coming where they come from. I thought the title choice was impactful. Going deeper into this excerpt, Alice, an educator and musician, discussed her own experience with the attacks. The school that she worked at treated her differently relating to the corona virus and looked into her “Chinese-ness”, which is discrimination at a worse level because now it is affecting people at their workplace. She went on to say it is hard and unfortunate that she has to over explain her Asian-ness as if it is a burden or something you should not be.

Resources- Malaka Ghairib and Wanyu Zhang’s excerpt called “Wash Your Hands” struck me at first because it is something that we are told everyday on social media, news, and the CDC, so I was looking forward to the tips in this action and something new that I might not know. As I read through the excerpt it was so cool because the comics and drawings really jumped out and although they were not very realistic, the message did come across strong. This message was “It’s very important to remember that this kind of virus can affect ANYBODY. It doesn’t matter where you come from or where your parents are from” (Ghairib, 35). People would not make this statement if we were all treated respectfully and equally without blame put on one race for a virus outbreak.

 

For frameworks, I picked ‘Jails make people sick’ by Zoe Saldana. The issue this excerpt address is that of the unpreparedness and lack of healthy living conditions in the U.S. prison system amidst this pandemic. She points out that while infectious diseases rapidly circulate through prisons, the people in charge are very unprepared and don’t do much to address the problem. I picked this because this issue isn’t exclusive to coronavirus, overall the prison systems in the U.S. are very broken and are often not at all concerned about the wellbeing of the inmates. 

For stories, I picked ‘Tired’ by Alice Tsui. She writes about how common anti-Asian sentiments have become during this pandemic. There has been a huge increase in slurs and verbal attacks against Asian American’s because they are seen to have some sort of association with coronavirus. She cites various instances of people making nasty comments in public at anybody who ‘looks’ asian. The notion that Asians are more likely to have covid simply because of the way they look is obviously absolutely asinine. It’s really terrible that anybody has to experience this kind of treatment in the 21st century. I picked this story because I myself have witnessed stuff like this happen in public.

For resources, I picked ‘Wash your hands’ by Malaka Ghairab. It’s basically just a guide with 3 things that everybody should be doing to slow the spread of coronavirus. Wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, don’t touch your face. (these are rules everybody should be following anyway just for general hygiene. We shouldn’t need a pandemic in order for people to wash their hands.) I picked this because these are literally the simplest and easiest things everybody should be doing to slow the spread of covid or any other contagious virus. Also it is presented as a comic which is a cool and creative way to present information.

I chose resources for gender-based violence for framework, coronavirus and the disability community for stories, and media coverage recommendations for resources. So for the framework I chose, there was discussion on gender-based violence during this pandemic, how it affects victims, and things a victim or a neighbor family remember can indirectly help while maintaining social distance guideline. The problem at hand with this topic focused on how the pandemic affects this demographic. For example, according to the resources provided, “Given layoffs and lack of access to paid sick leave, the economic effects of the virus worsen the conditions of individuals who may be living with perpetrators. These are in reference to the inequalities and disparities affecting this demographic. Something important to note is that of their clients (Sakhi), 95% are recent immigrants, 10% are undocumented, 80% are mothers, and 75% reside below the federal poverty level.  Because of these factors, many are ineligible to medicaid and as a result refrain from seeking medical attention. This is fear of exposing their undocumented status.

The second issue I chose was coronavirus and the disability for stories. This aimed at bringing forward experiences, ideas, and resources by marginalized people with an emphasis on marginalized POC. The goal is also to bring awareness how stories about marginalized disables people are also often expressed through the gaze of non-disabled people. Some of the stories apart of this project express the tribulations of being disabled during a pandemic and how when the situation returns to normality, those who are chronically ill will still have to exist with their illness. Others expressed how the disabled community are fearful because disabled people are “at the bottom of the list for being revived.” because of their quality of life is viewed as lower in comparison to an abled-body person.

For resources, I chose media coverage recommendations. The problem at hand here is directed specifically towards journalist covering the pandemic and those affected. The focus is portrayal of Asians and Asian Americans. According to these resources, often the portrayal is in the negative which fuels xenophobia and racism against them. They also list how naive and general coverage of people and areas with high Asian populations fuel misconceptions of them and add to inaccurate assessment and inevitable racism, The resources go on to name things reporters should refrain from doing. Such as recording generic views of Chinatown and avoid using phrases like “Wuhan Virus”, “Chinese Coronavirus”, and “China Coronavirus.”

I chose these excerpts because the all seem to be relevant topics that will continue to transition even after (hopefully) there ceases to be a pandemic. Xenophobia, discrimination, gender-based violence, and ableism will continue to be relevant topics that affect everyone but especially marginalized groups (Specifically Asian demographics in this case). What especially stoop out is how this pandemic emphasizes these wrongs as if these topics were occurring before the pandemic. Covid has exacerbated peoples awareness of issues outside of the able-body, American citizen, non POC experience. I chose these specifically for that reason. As a citizen, an able-bodied, non asian POC, I think it’s important especially now to practice attentive listening to hold space for Asian-Americans, Asians, and multiple marginalized/ disabled people.