"AsianIsNotAVirus” and “StopAsianHate”, the two latest viral hashtags of 2021 following 3 Atlanta spa shootings that claimed 8 innocent lives, 6 of which were women of Asian descent (The New York Times, 2021). Although it has not been confirmed that the motive behind these senseless attacks was racially driven, this tragedy sheds light on a very important topic, heightened global anti-Asian discrimination in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Canada, anti-Asian racism and discrimination can be dated all the way back to the late 1800s with the implementation of the “Chinese head tax”, an unrealistic fee imposed by the Canadian government on Chinese immigrants until 1923 in an attempt to discourage Chinese immigration (Appia, 2021). Our American counterparts share a similar history deeply rooted in racism, with longstanding “stereotypes and scapegoating of Asian Americans as disease carriers,” or as previously named, the “Yellow Peril – dirty, diseased, sinister, sexually depraved, invasive, and perpetually foreign” individuals (Chen, Zhang, & Liu, 2020). Unfortunately, history always seems to have a strange way of repeating itself. According to the Statistics Canada website (2020), the impacts of COVID-19 on immigrants and people designated as visible minorities are severe, only intensifying the health inequities that these vulnerable populations already face on a daily basis. It us up to us as a nation to stand up for what is right and to find a way to better serve our Asian-Canadian brothers and sisters. In their journal article about the potential implications of COVID-19-related racial discrimination on the health of Asian-Americans, Chen, Zhang, & Liu (2020) highlight three key implications for public health services that can definitely be considered as a starting point to battling this issue here in Canada. If we ever truly want to understand the short-term and long-term health effects of racial discrimination on vulnerable groups such as those of Asian-Canadians, we should start by recognizing 1) the need to address racial bias and discrimination within the health care system; 2) the importance of cross-racial collaboration between interethnic coalitions to combat discrimination as a broader issue; and 3) the need to “develop strategies to limit the racialization of diseases and subsequent harmful effects on minority groups” (Chen, Zhang, & Liu, 2020, p. 1626).
The first step of any self-help program is admitting that there is a problem, a sentiment that couldn’t be truer when it comes to the topic of racial bias and discrimination within the health care system in Canada. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s current Prime Minister, went on record and admitted in a public address that “systemic racism is an issue right across the country, in all our institutions” and we must recognize “that the systems that we have built over the past generations have not always treated people of racialized backgrounds, of Indigenous backgrounds, fairly” (Turnbull, 2020). The Statistics Canada website (2020) highlights that “Chinese, Korean, Southeast Asian and Black participants, and Indigenous women were among those who were much more likely to report having experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly during the pandemic” and yet still “there is no requirement to collect race-based data in Canada.” Like in nursing school, now that we have identified the problem, our next step must be to collect the necessary evidence to get to the root of it all and to avoid any further “band-aid solutions”. Yet still evidence is not enough, and it is only together that we can truly make a change.
Information is power, and without it we will never get ahead in this battle against racism. Despite the many challenges that we have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, increased societal awareness surrounding Anti-Asian discrimination, and systemic racism as a whole, can be viewed as a significant reason for optimism. It is very clear that it is not just one group of people that has been affected by systemic racism within our country, and therefore any future interventions must be directed at the broader issue at hand. Chen, Zhang, and Liu (2020) describe this matter best by stating that “the well-being of one vulnerable group reflects the well-being of all others within a society” and “persecution can spill over to affect a range of individuals from non-dominant groups” (p. 1626). Cross-racial collaboration between interethnic coalitions is vital to establish solidarity in this fight and something to think about when tackling structural racism and the institutional barriers exacerbating the health inequities that our vulnerable populations continue to face.
Despite clear recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) surrounding naming conventions for new human infectious diseases, former President of the United States, Donald Trump, single-handedly started a social media wildfire fuelled with sinophobic comments when publicly referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus”. The WHO (2015) explains that “once disease names are established in common usage through the internet and social media, they are difficult to change, even if an inappropriate name is being used.” The “Chinese Virus” is a perfect example of the bigotry that very obviously exists among us. Dr. Mamuji adds that “stigma exacerbates the spread of disease” and “discrimination and bullying that result from stigma may discourage minority groups such as Chinese individuals from seeking care or going to public health facilities” (2020). Stigmatized individuals may also suffer negative impacts to their livelihoods and increased experiences of discrimination as a result. Hence why avoiding the racialization of diseases is so important and necessary when trying to protect our vulnerable communities.
Although there are still many dark days ahead, the COVID-19 pandemic has in some ways served as a catalyst to increase awareness surrounding the struggles of some of our society’s most vulnerable groups. It is now up to us (citizens, nurses, politicians, doctors, researchers, etc.) to continue to educate ourselves on the social, emotional, financial, and health-related barriers affecting our minority groups in Canada and what we can do to help alleviate some of these burdens.
References
Appia, V. (2021). Timeline: this is Canada’s history of anti-Asian racism that COVID-19 has amplified.
Retrieved from https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10349793-timeline-this-is-canada-s-history-of-anti
asian-racism-that-covid-19-has-amplified/
Canadian Institutes of Health Research. (2020). More than a health crisis: exploring Chinese stigma and the
social impacts of COVID-19. Retrieved from https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/51968.html
Chen, J. A., Zhang, E., & Liu, C. H. (2020). Potential impact of COVID-19-related racial discrimination on the
health of Asian Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 110(11), 1624-1627.
Doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305858
Statistics Canada. (2020). Experiences of discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200917/dq200917a-eng.htm
Statistics Canada. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on immigrants and people designated as visible minorities.
Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-631-x/2020004/s6-eng.htm
The New York Times (2021). 8 dead in Atlanta spa shootings, with fears of anti-Asian bias. Retrieved from
Turnbull, S. (2020). Systemic racism exists in all institutions, including RCMP: Trudeau. Retrieved from
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/systemic-racism-exists-in-all-institutions-including-rcmp-trudeau
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World Health Organization. (2015). WHO issues best practices for naming new human infectious diseases.
Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news/item/08-05-2015-who-issues-best-practices-for-naming-new
human-infectious-diseases
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