Asia Matters Podcast

Coronavirus and Racism: Asian-Americans in the Crossfire

July 27, 2020 Asia Matters Season 2 Episode 1
Asia Matters Podcast
Coronavirus and Racism: Asian-Americans in the Crossfire
Show Notes

The world is still very much in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic - but the blame game has already begun. China, where the virus was first reported last December, has been singled out by many countries as the culprit - or scapegoat, depending on your viewpoint. 

One major consequence of the scramble to apportion guilt has been a surge in anti-Asian sentiment, especially in the US. But how new is this phenomenon there? What are its roots, and how has it changed into what we see today? 

To discuss this, we're joined by Christine Yano, professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and President of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS). And we also speak to Jennifer Pan (@jenjpan), a political scientist at Stanford University, about her study on how anti-Chinese discrimination seems to boost support for the Chinese political system among Chinese students in the US.