*Today on The Real From Home, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many cultures are facing discrimination due to the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the virus.
With that in mind, co-host Jeannie Mai talks about the unsettling racism that Asians are currently facing. Check out what she had to say above via the player.
Her comments are also transcribed below.
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Jeannie Mai: There’s a fear that has been placed on an entire race because– obviously we know that using the word “Chinese Flu” is– that “Chinese Virus” is not appropriate nor like making jokes like “Kung Flu” and things like that. But right now we’re so afraid and so unsure of– there’s so much confusion around this, that I understand that people need a place to blame or they just feel a better understanding– uh, uh a source to blame.
But when we call it that, we’re placing all this anger and confusion on an entire race of people. So, it’s just crazy to see, for me in my mind, two groups of people being attacked. One are the Asians and one are the Asian Americans, which are two completely different groups. Because, one doesn’t naturally … if I’m honest, they don’t speak out for themselves and, literally, will either wipe the spit from their eyes or dry the blood from their face and don’t say anything in their households. So, it’s accepting it and teaching the generations in their home to do that. And then the Asian Americans are doing their best to speak up. And then I feel that sometimes it is hard but, I think it may be the dialect, But I also don’t feel that all Asians ban together.
At the same time I– we’ve talked about this on the show many times on how important it is for us to put an end to finding any, um, humor in this or, obviously, any inappropriate jokes and slander that’s made. You know, we’ve talked about how if your friends are making these light-handed jokes– and even me and Jay, of course, if we’re posting something, we’re always getting messages about like, “Oh, Jay, you’re gonna catch that corona.” Like, “Now you got both of them in your house? What are you asking for?” And, it’s so hard to have that conversation in Instagram comments. I’m not about that because you just never win.
If I’m gonna have a conversation about it, it’s either going to be in something I write or here, you know, in an area where we’re going to talk about this as a whole to understand why it’s wrong and how to place this confusion… and what to think about our allies getting hurt or the racism that already exists, and why we’re adding to it. Like, when I get out of this, I’m really excited to make eye contact with people again and not have to be afraid of this added racism.
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