Page| 1| EAST (m-. “8 EAST WEST UNIVERSITY The Relation Between Covid-19 Pandemic & Increasing Racism Course Code : ENG 102 Section - 05 Course Title : Composition and Communication Skills Submitted to : Md. Tahamid Ar Rabbi Senior Lecturer Department of English Date of Submission: 30th April, 2021 Submitted by: 1D Name Contents 2020-3-60-044 | Md. Ashikur Rahoman | Abstract, Introduction, Racial discrimination and Covid-19. 2020-3-60-048 | Firoj Mahmud Shimul | Xenophobia against Asian people, Racism against black Americans, Cyber Racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. 2020-3-60-051 Susmita Biswas | The reasons people are being racially assaulted during Covid-19, Socio-economic disparities among racially discriminated people, ‘The movement against racism during the pandemic. 2020. Arun Jyoti Mondal_ | Findings, Implications, Conclusion, References.INDEX 1. Abstract... 2. Introduction. 3. Racial discrimination and Covid-19. 4, Xenophobia against Asian people. 5. Racism against black American..............:ccessssseeesssseeesesseeesense 6. Cyber Racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. 7. The reasons people are being racially assaulted during Covid-19 8. Socio-economic disparities among racially discriminated people 9. The movement against racism during the pandemic. 10. Findings 11. Implications 12. Conclusion.......... 13. References. Abstract Page |2| Page No. 03 04 04 06 06 07 09 09 10 2 12 13 14Page |3| The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has escalated racial discrimination against non-citizens and people of colour from all over the world. In this research, we are trying to show how racial disparities ereate a huge impact ‘on mental health, human relations, and general well-being. It is important to address the increasing racism and racial discrimination-related problem during the Covid-19 pandemic. This term paper discusses some reports about the racial disparities and racism against the people of other races, and finds out the reasons behind the people are being assaulted and socio-economic implications related to the assault. The term paper concludes with few ideas on how to address the COVID-19 related racial discriminations as the world continues to fight against racism,Page |4| Introduction ‘The COVID-19 pandemic first started in the city of Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, Later on March 11, 2020, it was declared as a global pandemic (wikipedia.com), During this pandemic, violence, xenophobia, racial discrimination, eyber racism, racism against Asian descendant and the black community in America has risen enormously. Since the pandemic started, several reports and documents have been reported about racism and xenophobia on social ‘media (Haynes, 2020, Time). Also, some governments and politicians have triggered about racial discrimination issue, The COVID-19 outbreak might have forced people to maintain distance from each other, but it didn't stop them to protest against racism and discrimination, As a result, several protests or movements against racism have been conducted during the pandemic. Racial discrimination and COVID-19 From long ago, non-citizens and people of colour are being victimized by racial discrimination. According to Wikipedia, “Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their skin colour, or racial or ethnic origin”. During this COVID-19 pandemic, people are not only facing the health consequences of COVID-19 but also facing inequities for their race. Since the COVID-19 virus was first spotted in China, it has triggered anti-Asian racism in so many places. Several reports about anti-Asian racism have been reportedPage |5| from different countries such as India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, the Philippines, and some African countries. Moreover, the Black community in America is struggling to get proper medical treatment and access vaccines, ‘There are some more indirect racial discriminations that are falling covered for the above issues, In the US, the rate of morbidity and hospitalization are about 2.5 and 4.5 times higher among the people from other races than among the white population (Khazanchi, 2020, JAMA network). The rate of mortality for COVID-19 is 50% higher among Asian and black ethnic groups than among white people (Johal, Prout & Tinkler, 2020, BMJ blog). This indicates the higher rate of poverty, more people with jobs in service industries, and limited healthcare access of the Black and other racial communities. Deaths per 100,000 people by race in the U.S. till March 6, 2021 256 |] Indigo Beko Aurcan —Hipanie or ——Pusifle. White asian ‘Aficst Tafianor anos (Source: Covidtracking & Statista, March 2021)Page |6| Xenophobia against Asian descendant people From social media, we are constantly knowing about Anti-Asian Racism and xenophobia worldwide (2020, Human Rights Watch). Actually, it ssumed that China deliberately created this virus, and this virus was spread worldwide by Asian immigrants. Therefore, Asian migrants are subjected to racism. World leaders have already spoken out against China by expressing strong hatred and animosity, which has affected immigrants. Even before the epidemic lockdown began in California, there have been numerous acts of violence targeting the people of Asian descent in the United States and beyond, which have now taken on alarming proportions. Moreover, racism and physical attacks on Asians and people of Asian descent have spread with the Covid-19 pandemic, as leaders of many powerful countries are encouraging such a catastrophe. Therefore, Asians and people of Asian descent around the world have been subjected to attacks and beating, violent bullying, threats, racist abuse, and discrimination that appear linked to the pandemic (Martinolich, Ramdeen & McCall-Mazza, 2021, the skimm). Racism Against Black American It is a matter of great regret that American black people have always been neglected and tortured, but that disparity has become more pronounced in the current epidemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. Racism is rampant in every sector of the US healthcare system. DiscriminatoryPage |7 | practices barred the entry of black candidates into medical, nursing, dental, pharmacy and other professional healthcare programs (Laurencin & Walker, 2020, NCBI). In this catastrophic situation, people in the black community are spending their days with high poverty rates and limited health care access, There are many examples of black Americans being deprived of medical and other services. Two recent examples illustrate these oppressions, such as Devid Bell (39-year-old public safety worker) and Dr. Susan Moore (52-year-old physician) were not admitted to any American hospital, and finally, they died without any treatment. According to The Guardian, about 500,000 black Americans have died of coronavirus (2021, The Guardian). Moreover, black Americans are constantly facing many horrible isolated incidents, which is extremely painfill Cyber Racism during the Covid-19 pandemic It is observed that with the increase in the transmission of the Covid-19 virus, racism has also increased on social media. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked racism, hatred, and xenophobia on social media targeting Asians, especially Chinese people. The Chinese and Asians are blamed for the origin and transmission of this virus, that is why world leaders have made so many anti-Asian hate speeches that have spread through social media via ‘Twitter. In such a situation, Asians are admitting humiliation and abuse on social media, which isPage |8 | adversely affecting their mental health, Thus, the image of Asians is being tamished and their relationship with foreigners is being ruined which is having a devastating effect on both their job and business sectors. Actually, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has raised social stigma and discriminatory behaviours among society (who.int) A total of 891,204 hate tweets and 200,198 counter hate tweets have been posted on ‘Twitter, from January 15, 2020, to April 17, 2020 (Ziems, Bing, Soni & Kumar, 2020, arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.12423 ; p. 04). —— Hate tweets soogo m= Counterbate tweets Number of tweets ova. on o3.19 Date (Figure-1: Statistic of hate tweets and counter hate tweets from January 15 - Apr Unter states 21.056 tia 6.1%) China 4.0% 3000: United Kingdom (3.1%) Canaan e219) India Lockdown +2000 1000 Number of hateful tweets © “pate “ (Figure-2: Statistic of nation-wide hateful tweets from January 15 = April 17,2020)Page |9| The reasons people are being racially assaulted during COVID-19 Here we can give some examples of recent violent attacks on Asian Americans which is a part of a surge in abuse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic a year before. A Thai immigrant of ages died after being shoved to the ground. A Chinese woman is slapped and forced into the fire. Some people are called hate crimes and blame Asian people for the spread of COVID-19. Here we can give some of the recently reported attacks. © Thai immigrant aged 84, lived in Francisco, California was died being violently shoved to the ground during his morning walk. © A man was arrested by the New York police who assaulted a woman during a protest against anti-Asian racism (www.bbe.com) Socio-economic disparities among racially discriminated people Black workers are faced with more economic and health security. Black workers earn less income than the white workers. We get to know through a well documented history of the mortgage market that the black Americans are significantly less to be homeowners than white Americans. It is the main reason for African Americans have less access to stable jobs, good ‘wages and retirement benefits at work.Page | 10| Here we can give an example : Latino and certain Asian American and Pacific Islander(AAPI)houscholds' wealth falls far below their white counterparts. Hispanic famili es have more wealth than the black family. In 2016, the median wealth for black and Hispanic families had $17,600 and $20,700, Compared with the white families median wealth of $671,000. ‘There is significant wealth inequalit among AAPI households. This example shows the gap of the black - white wealth and economy. If any African Americans completed higher education, purchased a home and got a good job he/she would still lag behind the white counterparts in terms of wealth and economy (americanprogress.org). The movement against racism during the pandemic Racism and physical attacks on Asian and people of Asian descent have spread during COVID-19 Asians and the black people have been the target of derogatory language in the media reports and the politician's statement on social media platforms which are related to COVID-19 For example, US president Donald Trumps use the term ‘Chinese rus’, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's use’ Wuhan virus’, The governor of the Veneto region of Italy said, “Chinese eat mice alive”.Page | 11| There is launched a hotline for New Yorkers by New York Attomey General Letitia James to report racism and discrimination amid the coronavirus. The authorities in Chinese province of Guangdong, set up a hotline for foreign nationals and laid out measures discouraging business. In responses to the rising discrimination against Asian Americans, the Black Lives Matter movement condwmned the racism against Asian American Via Twitter (ca.wikipedia.org), The protests are happening in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic raises certain issues regarding the spread of the virus. There are many protesters from communities of colour, which have been hit by the effects of the COVID-19 (theconversation.com). Percentage of 2,808 reported incidents from March-December 2020 m9 % 0 na » 87 a 8 ° Verbal Shumning Physical assault Spaton ‘Workplace harassment refusal of service (Source: Stop API Hate Reporting Center & BBC)Page | 12| Findings After discussing the relationship between Covid-19 and racism, we can find that racism is the conviction that a community of people has distinctive social qualities relating to actual appearance and can be partitioned depending on one race’s superiority over another. The Asian people trapped in this stigma because, in the early stages of the pandemic, and some news sources connected the infection with China & Asia in a way that fueled anti-Asian racism and xenophobia worldwide. White supremacism suppressed black people from the beginning of modem civilisation, and they started dealing with enhanced misery propagated by Covid-19 once again, These deeds make these two communities face many social & economic inconsistencies. Even their death rate raised rather than others because of Covid-19. Most of us neglected their sufferings until the movement against this racism raised some questions about humanity concerning those social issues we humans are creating. ImplicationsPage | 13 | The above research implicates how humanity gets crumbled just because of some propaganda and spread of hatred. It acquaints the actual sources from where the racism began and how a pandemic can bring out the true nature and ideology a society cherishes. This research paper amplifies that racism isn’t a temporary stigma in our community; instead, it is a degenerate culture practised by our nearsighted sox ty from generation to generation, This term paper signifies the né ity of moral education that we can not lear by achieving an institutional degree, Moreover, it flips the other side of social media. It highlights the influence of social media both negatively and positively. It describes how propaganda gets spread and how protests can be done by increasing social awareness using it. This term paper will serve our biased society to be more concerned about their moral view. Conclusion Covid-19 and racism undoubtedly developed an extensive relation during the outbreak. The examples of hate crime and physical assault towards the oppressed and individualised people prove it without leaving any suspicion. Investigating the statistics about this oppression from the beginning of Covid-19, we found out the symptoms of inferiority complex that most of our biased societies possess. Most importantly, we are humans, the most civilised living being on the earth, We should not nurture a nature that is similar to a savage nation. We should review andPage| 14 | mutate the racially biased ideology that differentiates humans based on their looks, eating habits, clothing, region, or culture, Besides, we should spread the positive influence of social media on any ideology. As a final observation, it is clear that a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic makes us remember once again how our true nature should be. References : 10, AL 12, https://en,wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_ pandemic https://time.com/5797836/coronavirus-racism-stereotypes-attacks/ https://en,wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_discrimination https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2770954 https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-ethics/2020/08/14/indirect-racial-discrimination-in-covid- 19-ethical-guidance, https://covidtracking.com/race https:/www.statista.com/statistics/1 12243 | /coronavirus-covid| 9-death-rate-by-race-us/ https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and- xenophobia-worldwide ht 3eBqGfaF6VOglo76VYXtU \s://www.theskimm.com/news/history-of-anti-asian-racism-in-the-united-states- hitps://www.nebi.nlm.nih,gov/pme/articles/PMC7375320/ hitps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/202/feb/22/black-americans-covid-19- racism-us-healtheare hitps://www.who int/publications/n/item/a-guide-to-preventing-and-addressing-social- stigma-associated-with-covid-19?gclid=CjwKCAjw9r DBhBxFiwA9gY UpZrV jpizgEtVSrpIRiY VhO77U 1jWisvvbenLflsMmZCPj7BQVvIUQT xoCtlgQAvD_BwE.Page | 15| 13. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.12423.pdf 14, http://elaws.ce.gatech.edu/covid 15, https://www.bbe.com/news/world-us-canada-5621868