Today we continue to mourn the killing of eight people near Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday night.

That six of the victims were Asian women is no coincidence.

• Discrimination and violence against Asians in the United States traces back to their first entry into the country.

• Some of our nation’s most shameful acts have been directed against Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans.

• In 1882, the United States passed a law called the Chinese Exclusion Act, with the explicit purpose of barring immigration from China.

• During World War II, the United States imprisoned more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans in internment camps.

• Throughout American history, people of Asian descent have been subjected to cruel stereotypes, mockery, and harassment.

• And Asian women have been objectified and hypersexualized.

Against this backdrop came the global COVID-19 pandemic and Donald Trump.

From the outset of the pandemic, one way Trump and other right-wing propagandists stoked their culture war is by referring to the coronavirus with phrases such as “the China virus” or “Kung flu” — terms explicitly intended to scapegoat a Chinese “other” for the pandemic Trump mismanaged into a deadly disaster far, far worse than it needed to be.

Not surprisingly, racist rhetoric leads to racist and violent action.

There have been thousands of reports of anti-Asian harassment and violence in America over the past year. (The real number is likely far higher, as so many of these incidents never get reported.)

And then came Tuesday’s tragedy in Atlanta.

Sadly, the Trump gang is still at it.

• On Fox News, Laura Ingraham was still referring to the coronavirus as “the Chinese virus” as recently as February 19 — less than a month before Tuesday’s shootings.

• Just last week, Trump used the phrase “China virus” — while trying to solicit praise for how he handled the pandemic!

• On Tuesday night, merely hours after the killings, Trump appeared on Fox News and again used the phrase “China virus.”

• And earlier today, at an emergency congressional hearing on the shootings in Atlanta, House Republicans sought to defend and justify Trump’s language.

We have to call out this behavior and demand that it stop.

Join Public Citizen in demanding that all politicians and media personalities immediately stop using “China virus” and similarly racist, divisive phrases in reference to COVID-19.

Add your name.

Thanks for taking action.

For justice,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

P.S. For half a century, Public Citizen has been advancing policies that put the needs of everyday Americans before the greed of billionaires and Big Business. That legacy of progress and that ongoing work could not matter more right now, as our nation transitions to a Joe Biden presidency that will be as progressive as we — you and Public Citizen, together — make it. We’re also busy undoing all the damage Trump did. And, like so many nonprofits and small businesses, we continue to experience financial strain related to the coronavirus pandemic. If you can, please make an emergency donation today to support the critical work we’re doing together or even join our popular Monthly Giving program. Thank you.
 
 
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