CHINATOWN AND ASIAN-HATE

Marie-Claire Milius

 

Chinatown in New York City is widely known for its bright colors, liveliness, variety of flavorful dishes and cultural emergence, but their people hold many secrets.

Currently standing as the largest Chinatown in all of the United States, NYC’s Chinatown is home to nearly 100,000 people.  As an effect of the current Covid-19 pandemic and the current state of high xenophobia New York City is experiencing, Chinatown’s citizens and visitors have had to endure rising amounts of racism and Asian-hate crimes. This is the result of many early reports of the virus labeling Covid as the “Wuhan Virus,” “Chinese Virus” or “The Chun Flu. ” The victims of discrimination and hate crimes are likely not to report these crimes.

The World’s First Chinatown

Binondo, the world’s first Chinatown, came about in Manila, Philippines over 400 years ago in 1594. Chinese people were already occupying the islands of the Philippines and making an impact through trading goods. With the arrival of Spanish conquerors, the Chinese were forced to settle in a ghetto just outside of it. They were considered to be sangleys which meant the lowest of the colonial society.

According to Justin Umali of Esquire Magazine, the colonial government was continually afraid of the threat of a Chinese invasion yet understood the importance of the Chinese which is why they kept them on a tight leash.

Later, a town was given to the Chinese called Binondo, by Spanish Governor Luis Pérez Dasmariñas. The Chinese were allowed to inhibit the land was as long as they chose t0 convert to Catholicism. Despite this dark past, Binondo has thrived and is still recognized as the first and oldest Chinatown in the world.

 

NYC’s Chinatown Now

Back to the 21st century, Manhattan’s Chinatown is a bustling city in the heart of New York and serves many tourists and visitors daily. Yet, many Americans do not know some of the newer struggles Asian-Americans have had to face everyday since the start of the pandemic. Such as hateful acts that stem from Xenophobia. The word Xenophobia means an irrational fear or distrust of foreigners. This is not to be confused with racism, xenophobia holds its own category as it is the hatred of people from a country. Whereas racism is hatred of a race. Although xenophobes can be racist, it is important to know the difference. An example of xenophobia is the phrase “go back where you came from.” This mindset can even perpetrate the idea of violent acts towards those that are not of Asian descent and have never been to a country in Asia.

Asian-Hate

Through each spike of the coronavirus pandemic and its increasing impact it has on our daily lives, many Americans seek someone to put the blame on for the fear and pain it’s caused.  From toilet paper panics to physical restrictions and financial hardships along with the rising concern of everyone’s health, all Americans, in particular, have endured a lot in the last 3 years without a doubt, but that is no excuse for targeted hate crimes.

As a result of Asian-hate and xenophobia, Asian Americans have had to not only worry about the risk of exposure to COVID-19, as everyone else, but they additionally have to worry about the risk of stumbling across the wrong sidewalk neighbor or subway cart rider. Disease does not discriminate based on skin color or national origin, yet Asian Americans and people of Asian remembrance must be alert at all times while out in public, on the MTA, walking their dog, delivering food, at a gas station, in a restaurant, the list goes on. Now many Asian Americans are concerned to “cough while Asian” or “sneeze while Asian” for fear of being targeted. While many other Americans can relate to the fear of not being caught coughing, it is heightened for Asian-Americans. This increase in anxiety of feeling unsafe or vulnerable to attack by others, is not only bad for their immune system, it also does wonders on how future Americans will respect and treat each other.

They are not even at peace when going to their own house as the murder of Christina Yuna Lee, who was followed into her Chinatown apartment, would suggest. Or the cruel murder of Woom Sing Tse who was shot 22 times while out his home in Chinatown.

According to NBC News, 30% of Americans have personally witnessed someone blame Asians for the coronavirus.

There have been many vandalisms on Asian-owned restaurants since the start of the pandemic. These vandalisms would make references to COVID-19, with phrases such as “take the corona back you ch*nk.” NBC connects that these incidents of vandalism demonstrate the association some people make between Asian American businesses and COVID-19. In New York City’s Chinatown, restaurants suffered immediately after the first reports of COVID-19 were released. Some restaurants and businesses experienced up to an 85% drop in profits for the two months prior to March 16th, 2020 – far before any stay-at-home orders were given.

 

What Will the Next Spike Do?

This is the reality of an Asian American’s life at the moment. This is not a Zoom call that you can leave when it gets a little rowdy or an app that you can log off of such as Tiktok. This is their life. And what they are facing right now is dehumanizing. Do people that cause so much harm regret it? We are going on year three and as the graph would suggest, the numbers of crimes are decreasing, but the numbers will never be fully represented. Additionally the numbers are not going down fast enough. I have witnessed someone with my own eyes try to justify the hatred and xenophobia Chinese and Asian Americans are facing right now. What happens when the next spike happens? Or even the next pandemic?

So why don’t they report it?

It is difficult to find data or detailed stories of xenophobic attacks, while they do exist, they are not always reported. And when these incidents are not reported to the police, there will then be no investigation. Two victims of a hate crime in Chinatown, Boston asked, “If you don’t report it, then you don’t have the numbers to prove that it’s happening. You can’t track it, and if you don’t have the numbers and the stats to prove that this is happening, then how are you going to justify the funds that you would need to dedicate resources to address this problem?”

According to the American Journal of Criminal Justice, immigrants may lack an understanding of the legal system and process of reporting crimes, particularly in the case of hate crimes. Others can be scared of deportation or have a language barrier that hinders them from taking action. As the noticeably extreme rise of in Asian hate from the start of the CoronaVirus pandemic began, researchers wonder if it is possible that the perceived threat of the Yellow Peril has reemerged in the time of COVID-19.

Similarly, Asian Americans are less likely to get medical assistance as it is seen as a weakness being that their culture stigmatizes mental health.

What is the Yellow Peril?

Asians have been considered to be “yellow” from anthropological and medical records that described variations in skin color since the eighteenth-century. With the covid-19 pandemic, we see how society slips back into its worst patterns. According to NBC, the “yellow peril was thought to have been coined by Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany, who commissioned a painting, completed in 1895, that became one of the most influential political illustrations at that time. It called on the “civilized” nations of Europe to defend against Asian conquest.”  Thus began the Yellow Peril that is now being transcribed into our day and age.

We have to be curious beings and explore other cultures.

I feel if we could get children and teenagers to experience the cultures of our Chinese and Asian brothers and sisters earlier in life, I’m sure they would grow up to be more respectful adults. This can be done by having school trips to a Chinese or Asian based museum or through the love of food. I personally love the idea of boba, a Taiwanese tapioca drink, becoming popular, although I am not the biggest fan, I feel it is wonderful as it exposes others to a different culture’s cuisine.

As mentioned before, Chinatown can be culturally emergent, this can be an overwhelming culture shock for some as it is such a drastically distinct cultural identity from other surrounding regions in NYC. It is my theory that culture shock relates to Xenophobia. Culture shock, as described by Troy Segal, author of Investopedia, refers to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people may experience when moving to a new country or experiencing a new culture or an unfamiliar environment. This is a normal response to feeling out of place. I encourage people to check out themselves and examine any xenophobic hateful ideals that made may be culturally embedded deep down into their psyche.

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