Asian journalist is harassed with racial slur while reporting on virus-caused spike in racism
As Donald Trump works overtime to convince his supporters to start calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” racist attacks against Asian-Americans are on the rise. The president clearly cares little about this grim development and is far more concerned with avoiding blame for his pitiful handling of the pandemic. Directing his xenophobic base at the Chinese is a convenient way for him to keep voters from realizing how badly his administration has fumbled this crisis.
Trump’s racist strategy is already spreading through his party like a virus itself, with an increasing number of GOP officials gleefully scooping up the phrase “Chinese virus” and hurling it at the press at every opportunity. One Kansas Republican even went so far as to claim that his state is having little trouble with the coronavirus because so few Chinese people live there.
CNN’s Kyung Lah appeared on Jake Tapper’s program today and revealed that while reporting on the wave of rising anti-Asian sentiment she was racially harassed earlier today. She said that a man walked right up to her and used a racial slur, something she can’t recall happening to her face since elementary school.
“So we were standing there preparing for live shots this morning, just hours ago and a man walked up and used a racial slur. Flung it right at me. And I was so surprised and so taken aback that I asked him to repeat it because I couldn’t believe,” said Lah. She added that the most surprising aspect of the rise in anti-Asian bigotry is that it’s “happening in front of our faces, directly at people.”
This kind of vile behavior will only continue to spread as Republicans stoke racial divides for political gain. It’s not enough to just condemn their bigotry, we as Americans must come together despite the GOP’s hateful efforts and defend one another. If you witness this kind of racism, call it out. Racists must be shamed until they scutter back beneath the rocks they crawled out from under.
—@KyungLahCNN tells @jaketapper that while she was preparing for a live shot earlier today "a man walked up" to her and "used a racial slur" pic.twitter.com/rs2EYOzdpW
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 20, 2020
