Anti-Asian sentiment in the United States has become a more prominent issue since the onset of COVID-19. From March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2021, StopAAPIHate received 3,795 reports of hate incidents towards Asian Americans. Moreover, the use of racist terminology by political leaders to describe the pandemic, such as “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu,” has fostered prejudice against Asian Americans. However, xenophobia and racism towards Asians in the United States is not a new phenomenon; from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to Islamophobia post 9/11, Asians have been viewed as a threat to American society throughout history. Today, the impacts of normalized racism towards Asians have been made abhorrently clear.
The Hypersexualization of Asian Women
On March 16th, 2021, eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian women, in shootings targeting spas in the Atlanta area. According to authorities in Georgia, these murders were the result of the gunman’s “sex addiction”-- he killed his victims to "eliminate his temptations." Despite targeting Asian-owned spas, the police have been reluctant to deem these murders as hate crimes. These shootings and the refusal to acknowledge the link between racism and sexism are the culmination of the fetishization of Asian women in the US.
The depiction of Asian women as hypersexual and submissive is deeply embedded in US history. As early as 1875, the Page Act was used systematically to bar the immigration of Asian women by associating them with prostitutes. US imperialism and military intervention in Asia continued this narrative: American Service members were known to solicit cheap sex in war-torn nations like Korea and Vietnam, where poverty gave rise to prostitution.
The hypersexualized and commodified portrayal of Asian women was later cemented on-screen. Notably, Hollywood promoted two archetypes to exoticize Asian women-- the subservient “China Doll” and the aggressive “Dragon Lady.” Both depictions sexualized and dehumanized East Asian women, portraying them as subjects deserving of domination by White screen characters.
From policy to popular culture, the perverted portrayal of Asian women has fostered a depiction of “otherness” that has jeopardized their safety. In their national report, StopAAPIHate found that Asian women reported hate incidents 2.3 times more than men. The violence towards and dehumanization of Asian women have made the demographic more vulnerable in a time where racism has been a byproduct of a pandemic.
Phi Nguyen, Litigation Director at Asian American Advancing Justice, emphasizes the consequences of dehumanization in response to the Atlanta Spa Shootings:
“That the Asian women murdered yesterday were working highly vulnerable and low-wage jobs during an ongoing pandemic speaks directly to the compounding impacts of misogyny, structural violence, and white supremacy.”
Model Minority Myth
In 1966, sociologist William Peterson helped solidify the stereotype of Asians being successful and docile-- the “model minority”-- in his article “Success Story, Japanese-American Style.” During an era of civil unrest, this standard was used to drive a wedge between Asian Americans and African Americans to dismiss the issue of systemic racism plaguing minority communities.
However, the model minority myth overlooks fundamental nuances when assessing the Asian American community by describing Asians as a monolithic group. Considering that the community is composed of over 50 different ethnic groups and a plethora of different experiences, the generalization of broad Asian American success diminishes the struggles and disparities within the Asian community. The Pew Research Center reports that, as of 2016, Asian Americas saw the largest income gap out of any minority population, with the top 10th percentile of Asian Americans earning 10.7 times as much as the bottom 10th percentile. In 2015, the median household income varied from $100,000 among Indians to $36,000 among Burmese. And in New York City, Asian Americans have the highest poverty rates. Yet, the stereotype of success ignores the inequalities within the Asian community. The model minority myth erases the struggles that many individuals of Asian descent face while undermining the claims of systemic racism by touting the success of specific Asian demographics.
COVID-19 Impacts
In addition to dealing with an increase in hate incidents, the Asian American community is also reeling from the economic impacts brought about by the pandemic. A UCLA report highlights that, from February to April of 2020, nearly 233,000 Asian American small businesses closed, representing a decline of 28% over the two-month period. In addition, in states like California and New York, Asians have disproportionately filed unemployment claims.
A key contributor to this economic impact is the racist association of Asians with disease and filth. In the 19th century, US news outlets began describing Asians, specifically the Chinese, as "uncivilized, unclean, filthy beyond all conception.” This racist stigma was used in conjunction with other negative stereotypes to spread anti-Asian sentiment. The consequences were devastating: in 1871, a mob of 500 men stormed Los Angeles’ Chinatown and slaughtered 20 men and boys in the deadliest known single lynching incident in US history. Eleven years later, Congress would pass the Chinese Exclusion Act, the only US law to ban immigration on the basis of race.
During a pandemic, these racist stereotypes associated with Asians are especially damaging. Growing anti-Asian sentiment fueled by scapegoating has led to an increase in violence while deterring people from Asian-owned businesses. City leaders and Business owners in New York claim that tourists and locals have been avoiding Chinese business since the origin of the virus was reported.
The impact of COVID-19 on Asian Americans has been two-fold: the direct implications of a highly contagious virus and the renewed emphasis on bigoted clichés have harmed the Asian community physically, emotionally, and economically.