Why the Term ‘Chinese Virus’ Is a Tool of Political Power
Why is it racist to call the Covid-19 virus the “Chinese Virus”? Because Asian Americans say so.
That should be enough, but you still have doubts, consider: Attacks against Asian Americans, both verbal and physical, have increased since the Trump administration decided to use the term, and these assaults can be directly linked to people’s feelings about the coronavirus.
Make no mistake, calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” is not an innocent gaffe. It’s a deliberate attempt by the Trump White House to point the finger of blame on somebody for the pandemic. The photograph taken by a Washington Post reporter showing the word Corona marked out and replaced with Chinese is clear evidence of that. It’s possible that the intended scapegoat was the People’s Republic of China, but given Trump’s association with white nationalists, it’s not a far stretch to consider it might be aimed at an American minority group.
And no, calling it the Chinese virus not the same as calling rubella German measles or using the term Spanish flu. German and Spanish Americans have not objected, nor have they been harassed and threatened. Moreover, Chinese Americans have faced a long history of targeted discrimination in housing, employment, and immigration.
In fact, Chinese Americans have frequently suffered unwarranted persecution related to infectious diseases. Chinese were early settlers of California, particularly in the San Francisco area. From the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, if an outbreak occurred, Chinese were detained or confined, their homes subjugated to inspection and fumigation. Chinese, as well as other Asians, were denied admission to city-run hospitals and diverted to Chinese-only medical facilities.[1]
Ignorance and misinformation of science fueled the prejudice against Asian Americans. Prior to the 1880s, before the role of germs was understood, there was widespread belief that diseases were transmitted through “foul air” and unsanitary conditions. Chinatown, with its open air markets and unfamiliar aromas, was blamed for an outbreak of smallpox in 1876. Every house was ordered to be cleaned out and fumigated.
“Whenever a major epidemic threatened San Francisco,” writes Joan B. Trauner, a research at the University of California, “health official descended upon Chinatown with a vengeance.”[2]
Even after germ theory was widely accepted, San Francisco health officials continued to scapegoat Chinese residents for outbreaks of disease, such as the smallpox epidemic of 1905. Despite evidence to the contrary, white officials declared that the disease had originated in Chinatown and that Chinese people were more likely than whites to catch and spread the disease.[3] These acts of discrimination were used as a “powerful political tool,” with implications such as limiting immigration, confining residency to Chinatown, and excluding Chinese Americans from public services.
Today, we understand where Covid-19 virus originated, and yes, it was most likely in Wuhan, China. But how does that relate to a Korean American in Maryland or a Chinese American man in Philadelphia, both of whom were attacked by people blaming them for the coronavirus?
Is it any wonder that Asian Americans feel nervous when they hear officials from the highest level of the government using the term “Chinese virus”? This is not a matter of trivial political correctness. It is a deliberate strategy by the Trump administration to provoke hate against a minority group and to promote an unofficial policy of white nationalism.
