Trump Brand Bigotry on the Rise

The New York Times writes:

“As bigots blame them for the coronavirus and President Trump labels it the “Chinese virus,” many Chinese-Americans say they are terrified of what could come next.

WASHINGTON — Yuanyuan Zhu was walking to her gym in San Francisco on March 9, thinking the workout could be her last for a while, when she noticed that a man was shouting at her. He was yelling an expletive about China. Then a bus passed, she recalled, and he screamed after it, “Run them over.” 

She tried to keep her distance, but when the light changed, she was stuck waiting with him at the crosswalk. She could feel him staring at her. And then, suddenly, she felt it: his saliva hitting her face and her favorite sweater. 

In shock, Ms. Zhu, who is 26 and moved to the United States from China five years ago, hurried the rest of the way to the gym. She found a corner where no one could see her, and she cried quietly.  

As the coronavirus upends American life, Chinese-Americans face a double threat. Not only are they grappling like everyone else with how to avoid the virus itself, they are also contending with growing racism in the form of verbal and physical attacks. Other Asian-Americans — with families from Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar and other places — are facing threats, too, lumped together with Chinese-Americans by a bigotry that does not know the difference.”

Yesterday, the president expressed concern for Asian Americans and asked for civility. Given how effectively the president has instilled a new and virulent social tolerance of bigotry and racial hate, his plea arguably is too little, too late. And given his rhetoric starting in 2015 or 2016 when he became politically active, it seems insincere. The president is a bigot who rose to power in part by fomenting hate, distrust, racism and intolerance. Some innocent people are going to reap what he sowed.

One can only wonder what is going on the the minds of people who publicly act on their hate and racism. Apparently, their parents did a very bad job of raising them.