Words matter and is BS when anyone says Trump's words at rallies, in TV interviews, and at press conferences have not enhanced extremist racism in America. Words matter for all of us, but much moe when a President uses the words, MUCH MORE.
"China Virus," White Supremacy, US history, violence, anger, rhetoric, irresponsible, leadership, lies, false equivalency, cruelty, accountability, intentional ignorance, all of these Trump owns.
America’s long history of scapegoating its Asian citizens
When leaders call COVID-19 the “China virus,” it harkens back to decades of state-sanctioned discrimination against Asian Americans.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/asian-american-racism-covid
"In the months since the coronavirus pandemic began, thousands of Asians in the U.S. have become targets of harassment and assault. The racist incidents began as the first cases of coronavirus spread across China last December and disinformation reigned. As infections appeared in the U.S., President Trump repeatedly referred to COVID-19 as the "China virus" and "Chinese flu," and pushed a disproved theory that it had originated in a Chinese lab. By April an IPSOS poll found that three in 10 Americans blamed China or Chinese people for the virus.
For Asians in America, there is a new tension to daily life. Asian businesses and property have been vandalized with racist tags. Random individuals have been physically assaulted, verbally harassed, and shunned across the country. There’s no official tally for how many incidents have occurred, but in late March, California Congresswoman Judy Chu estimated 100 hate crimes were being committed against Asian Americans each day.
This fear isn’t new. In the past century and a half, the United States has made laws and national policies out of discrimination against ethnic groups, from the Chinese Exclusion Act to Japanese internment during World War II. Historians and activists fear that today’s targeted political rhetoric and harassment mirrors moments in U.S. history when racism became state-sanctioned."
When US Presidents speak, Americans listen. I grew up idolizing US Presidents starting with Dwight Eisenhower.
Then we voted Trump in office in 2016, and Trump said a lot of very, very nasty things about minorities and ethnic groups, he fueled the already present racism in America. Then, in his "political" rallies, [not sure what these were truly intended to accomplish, possibly created a fascist following, an angry base?], Trump very publicly relished violence in many forms, literally advising [police should be "rough" on people arrested] and praising violence against weaker peoples [a small reporter violently body slammed by a larger politician for asking too many questions, or a female reporter verbally disrespected and verbally assaulted by a male Republican congressman].
Trump disrespected blacks who marched for safety against bad cops, Mexicans, immigrants, ugly women, and "Chinese" which means all Asians.
Trump's cult recognized his words to mean he is OK if they attack Asians because white Americans think all yellow people are Chinese, and besides that, who cares. It was officially OK for Trump supporters to act out their fantasy of hurting anyone not white.
The Muddled History of Anti-Asian Violence
By Hua Hsu March 1, 2021
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-muddled-history-of-anti-asian-violence
"Danny Satow was walking home from a stroll around her neighborhood in Federal Way, a suburb just south of Seattle, when a heavy object slammed into her chest. A car whizzed by and a disembodied voice yelled a racial slur against Chinese people. The car melted into the rush of traffic, and Danny leaned over to pick up the liter of water that had hit her. Her collarbone stung, but she told herself it didn’t matter, she was fine. She stood still on the sidewalk and tried to channel her grandmother.
Growing up in New York, Danny rarely felt bigotry because of her Japanese heritage. But in the house she shared with her grandparents in Brooklyn, the past engulfed her imagination. Her grandfather, Eisaku "Ace" Hiromura, barely spoke of his experiences in World War II, but the medals hanging on his wall told of combat with the 442nd Infantry Regiment, a highly decorated unit of second-generation Japanese Americans. Her grandmother, Haruka "Alice" Kikuchi, regaled Danny with stories about being 20 years old and going to jitterbug dances held at the Tanforan Racetrack in California, where she and nearly 7,800 other Japanese-Americans were interred by the U.S. government. She and seven siblings slept on cots in horse stables."
Japanese Americans were feared as spies in WWII, and in the early California Gold Rush days hated for taking lower wages and working harder to find gold, resulting in the Chinese Exclusion Act.
America has a very large White Supremacist population.
Bad news for Donald Trump Jr: the right is fast tiring of Trumps
