asian – Girl Meets The World of Media

At first, I was going to do a remix video about Asian discrimination and the true origin of COVID-19. But the more I researched, the more I felt enraged. I wanted to just shout to the world.

Thus, this PSA was born.

The final DIY project… I can’t believe this is the last one!

Since mid-March, more than 1,500 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents have been reported. Many of the assailants, according to the news, have claimed that Asians are bringing the coronavirus and need to go away. On YouTube, there are videos of two women getting spat on, an elderly man in San Francisco getting harrassed after his neighbors stole his groceries, and a man ranting on the subway about how “Everything bad comes from China.”

Though I didn’t ultimately include this in my final draft, this video should still be watched. Also, if you want a kick, read the sarcastic comment section.

But to get original videos of these attacks, I had to turn to Twitter. There is where I found videos of a man pouring acid on a woman’s neck, and another man beating up an Asian woman wearing a face mask in a subway station. Both of these videos occurred in New York, where there are more than 300,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

These attacks have especially been on the rise in the U.S. since President Trump started calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus.” A photo of his speech, on which he crossed out “coronavirus” and replaced it with “China,” has gone viral on Twitter.

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 19 : A close up of President Donald J. Trump’s notes shows where Corona was crossed out “Corona” and replaced with “Chinese” Virus as he speaks with his coronavirus task force in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic during a briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday, March 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

When confronted by an ABC reporter about why he insists on calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus,” President Trump merely replied: “It’s not racist at all. It comes from China.”

In response to the callousness of this press conference, I found multiple news reports and YouTuber commentaries that pushed against Trump’s dismissal. NBC gathered a group of Asian adults who have experienced blatant discrimination and call for kindness and empathy, while on the National Film Society channel, Patrick Epino emphasized how much the words of an authority figure matter.

Even Asian youth have been standing against this discrimination. A high schooler documented how Asian discrimination infected her school (when schools were still open), and another young teen posted a campaign video, urging people to speak up. People all over Tik Tok and Twitter are posting videos of them washing their hands, calling on people to #WashTheHate.

A #WashTheHate ad, which actually includes one of the Tik Toks I used in my video!

When I came upon these videos advocating for change, I was inspired to contribute something to this advocacy pool. So, I sent texts to multiple Asian people I knew and asked them to film themselves (and their family, if possible) saying one simple phrase: “We are not a virus.”

(Some of my friends and family even agreed to say it in their native language! Which was so cool!!!)

I know this was my featured image, but… I can’t ever get over this picture.

It was important for me to show the faces of Asian people in my life because I wanted to emphasize that this issue is hitting close to home. It might even hit closer to home for many of the students in our class!

And that’s why I chose to take this stance: “We, the Asian community, are NOT a virus!”