In the past year hate crimes against Asian-Americans have skyrocketed. In New York City alone, there were 28 hate crimes against Asian-Americans, compared to just three the previous year. And there have been numerous attacks against Asian-Americans caught on video in recent weeks, including an 84-year-old San Francisco man named Vichar Ratanapakdee, who died after he was shoved to the ground and suffered brain damage.
It’s not hard to find who has been stoking this hate. Donald Trump spent the better part of 2020 calling COVID-19 the “China Virus” and blaming China for the hundreds of thousands of deaths it caused in the U.S. – as if China were responsible for an inadequate and entirely profit-centered pandemic response. And even out of office, Trump and his lackeys have continued to blame China for the virus. It’s no wonder that we’ve seen a rise in hate crimes with the rhetoric and xenophobia Trump has shown.
COVID-19 was not caused by any country or racial group. It was caused by capitalism, which has led to the destruction of vast areas of nature for profit, either through logging trees or starting plantations on the cleared soil. The destruction of the environment for profit has caused millions of animals to migrate and come into closer contact with humans – increasing the chance that a virus can jump from an animal to a human. COVID-19 was originally a virus in bats that jumped to humans after their natural habitat was destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations.
We must condemn all the hatred, xenophobia, lies, and attacks on Asian-Americans! Trump and his ruling class allies are trying to divide and distract us from where the virus really came from and who’s at fault for the vast numbers who have died in the U.S. and around the world.
