Experts denounce hate toward Asians, urge all to ‘stand up together to fight’ coronavirus

Cases of insensitive, discriminatory reactions due to misinformation and xenophobia tied to the coronavirus outbreak across the country have blasted the internet.

The Sacramento area is experiencing those cases as well.

On March 6, a student told a fellow fifth-grader of Asian descent during break time that “he is the coronavirus,” according to Christy, the child’s mother. Both students attend an elementary school in the Elk Grove Unified School District. The child reported the incident to yard duty staff and later the principal.

Christy wishes to only be addressed by her first name due to fears of repercussion. She said her son dealt with the incident well; it did not affect him much emotionally. But she was surprised when she heard about it.

“You should not say that to a healthy person,” she said. “In the long run, we need to learn to not look at people of different ethnicity through tinted glasses. We should not pick on any person of any race, but stand up together to fight the virus.”

District officials have not responded to The Sacramento Bee’s request for comment.

A hate crime occurred in Fresno last week: coronavirus-related graffiti was sprayed onto a car belonging to an Asian American family. The police launched an investigation after the car owner’s daughter filed a report and shared to the pictures on Facebook.

Although xenophobia and scapegoating is nothing new, it is still causing stress to those who’ve experienced prejudice, said Ayanna Yonemura, ethnic studies lecturer at Sacramento State University.

She encouraged Asian Americans to take this as an opportunity to think about the connections they can make with groups similarly targeted to fight racism.

Sacramento State ethnic studies professor Timothy Fong noted that Asian Americans are more reluctant to report hate-related incidents, as they do not want to draw more attention or further attacks. The lack of trust among recent immigrants, who have not had much interaction with the police, may make them even less inclined to file an incident.

Fong said reporting crimes is crucial to track the number of cases to know if it is a trend or random occurrences, and provide information and data for a stronger demand for action.

“We will not stand for misinformation, denigration and stereotyping of Asian and Asian American communities,” he said.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, the Sacramento Police Department has not been notified of any crimes toward anybody specifically because of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to an email from Officer Karl Chan, department spokesman.

At a community forum this month, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Kate Adams urged people to report any hate crime.

“If someone is a victim of a hate crime, they should report immediately so we can start tracking that,” she said.

State Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, said bullying and stigma could threaten the public health of the community.

“When you have a condition like the coronavirus, you don’t want people to go underground,” Pan said. “People will be frightened to report on symptoms because they are afraid that they going to be attacked, bullied or be socially rejected.

“If someone has symptoms, that might indicate the infection, and we want them to come forward.”

Some business have lost customers due to the COVID-19 outbreak: Chinese restaurants in Sacramento have seen sales drop, some as much as 50 to 70 percent, as panic over the virus spreads.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he is going to support Chinese restaurants to help fight the stereotype.

“We cannot jump to these conclusions or shun others or point the finger and engage in outright discrimination because we are dealing with a serious public health issue,” Steinberg said. “Let’s do the common sense things, protect our public health, let’s look out for each other and our respective communities. Stand up as we always do in Sacramento.”

As of early Tuesday afternoon, nearly 500 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in California. In Sacramento County, there are 40 confirmed cases and two deaths. County leaders are asking all residents to stay at home to help stop the spread of the virus.