1. I can almost (but not quite) understand the (almost exclusively white) people who call #COVID19 “Chinese virus.” What those folks don’t or won’t see, however, is how this others AAPI & acts as tacit agreement with the xenophobia surrounding this pandemic. #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
2. “It can’t happen here,” I’ve seen on social media. Take it from someone who grew up recognizing the signs of subtle anti-Asian racism. It is already happening here. Asian Americans have already been victims of hate crimes. #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
3. “It isn’t racist, just a statement on where it came from.” Sure, but calling it Chinese virus implicitly places anyone who looks like me under suspicion. Possibly not by you, but how many non-Asians can tell the difference between East Asian ethnicities? #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
4. If it isn’t racist, then why the uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes since the President & his sycophants in politics or media began using the term? Or are those just *regular* racists, just not ones whose hate wasn’t already inflamed by Trump’s rhetoric? #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
5. “You’re playing into the CCP’s hands.” IDGAF, because right here, right now, Asian Americans are being victimized for the unspeakable crime of being Asian American. People who look like me. People you work with. People who live near you. #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
6. When is enough enough? Are you self-professed colorblind post-racial “allies” so cowed that you now can’t bring yourselves to call out xenophobia as it’s happening before your very eyes? #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
7. The next time it could be someone I know personally. I fervently hope this won’t happen, but I’m also not holding my breath. I can’t trust the majority of non-Asian Americans to speak up, because this doesn’t affect their communities. #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
Addendum: to the guy who DM’d me last night that I was blowing everything out of proportion, all I can say is, your white privilege is showing. #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
