The hashtag #StopAsianHate goes up on social networks. An alert on the increase in anti-Asian racism, long trivialized and reinforced by the pandemic.
Anti-Asian racism is as present in our society as it is virulent. This is what the #StopAsianHate hash launched on February 23, 2021 on social networks, including Twitter, wishes to denounce. The coronavirus crisis has made the phenomenon worse, with the virus categorized as “coming from China”. And the tweets with the tag speak for themselves about the violence of the attacks that are on the rise today, whether verbal or physical, and the impunity of the attackers.
However, we know that the coronavirus is not caused by Asians. Its origin: the destruction by humans of the natural environments of animals. They then live more concentrated and close to humans, and it is this proximity that creates contagion. The viruses that are transmitted in this way from animals to humans are due to an economic system that exploits natural resources and it is likely that these zoonoses will develop more and more with urban expansion which destroys natural environments, the climate change and the increase in meat consumption which leads to intensive breeding. But these tweets are a sad testimony to the scale of this phenomenon which associates the health crisis with people of Asian origin.
When racism is part of everyday life
Testimonies of trivialized racism are currently flowing on the web. It takes place everywhere, from work to the street, sometimes without passers-by reacting.
Witnesses say they have suffered the problem since childhood: clichés circulate with impunity, from nursery school, especially through jokes about language or slanted eyes.
This anti-Asian racism is completely trivialized, and the prejudices are very basic. You just have to take a closer look at the lyrics of the song Coronavirus by Renaud, released in July 2020: cultural interest level or even elementary nuances, we will come back. But if this recent song drives home the point, the problem is not new.
Anti-Asian racism, trivialized but deadly
In February 2020, the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus was already emerging. However, anti-Asian racism pre-existed the health crisis. We remember, for example, Isabelle Balkany calling Grain de Riz her Cambodian employee, without that shocking those around her. Even more serious: in 2016, a fashion designer named Zang Shaolin was killed in Aubervilliers. His attackers believed the man had cash on him, according to the stereotype that Asians are hardworking, therefore rich, and always have cash on them. Protests had taken place, but nothing had really changed since.
To educate themselves on the subject, activists such as writer and director Grace Ly and singer Thérèse (in the video below) tirelessly fight against these clichés. Because far from being "funny", they engender unacceptable violence, and sadly reinforced in these times of crisis.