COVID-19 also known as the “Kung Flu” according to former President Donald J. Trump, has caused the vilification of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In the past year alone, there have been 3,800 self-reported incidents of hate crimes against Asian-Americans, according to Columbia University. This number also does not include the countless verbal attacks and subtle prejudices that go unreported. It is

Activists say that the violence was fueled early in the pandemic after Donald Trump as president began calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus.” https://t.co/UQOnCTkoMM pic.twitter.com/jsp4tfN24e

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 4, 2021

sickening that millions of Asian Americans walk around in fear of being persecuted for a virus that they simply did not create.https://t.co/jsp4tfN24e

When COVID-19 first hit the United States hard, Trump incited hatred in his supporters’ minds by making COVID-19 synonymous with all Asian people by calling it the “Chinese Virus”. As a matter of fact ju

st after Trump first tweeted using the phrase “Chinese Virus” there were major increases in not only tweets with “China Virus” but also in tweets containing anti-Asian sentiment, according to the Washington Post. It is unacceptable for a world leader to promote hatred and division within an already isolated society.

Recently, some TikToks have surfaced that show elderly men and women walking with canes or sticks as weapons for self-defense when they walk around their neighborhoods. The fact that we are still unable to create a society where everyone feels safe while walking around their own neighborhood in the 21st century is enough to make my blood boil as it should anyones’. COVID-19 has already been devastating enough for everyone, the last thing the AAPI community needs is to fear for their lives because of a misguided and ill-informed tweet.

https://twitter.com/OtotheBeirne/status/1379234034568454146

Asian Americans have a reason to be scared. The shootings in Georgia in which six people of Asian descent were murdered should not and cannot be justified as a “bad day”. It comes as no surprise, that the deputy that brushed over this shooting was also found to have promoted the selling of shirts with anti-Asian messages on them. Law enforcement in New York City investigated nine times the amount of Asian hate crimes in 2020 as they do in a typical year, according to the British Broadcasting Company. COVID-19 never was and continues not to be the fault of just Asian-Americans, we are all responsible for the spread of the virus; if Americans continue to villify the AAPI community, our nation will suffer greatly from more than just one pandemic.