Anti-Asian Discrimination During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This paper examines the rise of anti-Asian American discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic. It traces how political rhetoric labeling the virus the "China virus" fueled harassment, verbal and physical abuse, and wrongful terminations targeting Asian Americans. The paper documents the severe economic consequences of this discrimination, including disproportionate unemployment and business closures. It then situates this trend within America's long history of anti-Asian prejudice — from the Chinese Exclusion Act to post-9/11 hate crimes — arguing that the pandemic provided a pretext to continue entrenched patterns of scapegoating. Finally, the paper outlines individual coping strategies, community-level solidarity efforts, and policy recommendations aimed at curbing racially motivated discrimination.
- Introduction: Framing thesis on anti-Asian COVID-19 discrimination
- Forms of Anti-Asian Discrimination During COVID-19: Harassment, assault, slurs targeting Asian Americans
- Economic and Personal Consequences: Unemployment spikes and business closures documented
- Historical Roots of Anti-Asian Prejudice: Yellow peril, Chinese Exclusion Act, post-9/11 violence
- Strategies and Solutions: Individual coping, community solidarity, policy reform
- Conclusion: Pandemic as pretext for entrenched anti-Asian bias
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its claims in concrete data — such as the UCLA unemployment statistics and the IPSOS poll figures — giving abstract arguments measurable weight.
- It moves logically from documenting discrimination, to analyzing consequences, to situating the trend historically, and finally to proposing solutions, creating a coherent argumentative arc.
- The central thesis — that the pandemic is an excuse to continue a well-established pattern of anti-Asian prejudice — is introduced early and reinforced at each stage of the essay.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper exemplifies evidence triangulation: it draws on journalistic sources, academic studies, polling data, and historical examples simultaneously to support a single overarching claim. Rather than relying on one type of evidence, the author layers multiple source types, which strengthens credibility and guards against any single source being insufficient.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens with an introductory framing section that states the thesis and roadmap. It then moves through three analytical sections — documenting discrimination, detailing its consequences, and providing historical context — before closing with a two-part solutions section (individual/community and governmental) and a brief conclusion. This problem-history-solution structure is well suited to social-issues writing at the undergraduate level.
Introduction
As Croucher, Nguyen, and Rahmani point out, Asian Americans are the fastest growing population in the United States. Yet they are also among the populations most susceptible to discrimination — a reality that has been starkly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic through widespread reports of increased anti-Asian harassment and violence. This essay concerns itself primarily with anti-Asian American sentiment during the pandemic. In doing so, it tracks the nature of that discrimination and charts its consequences. It also highlights solutions that have been proposed to curb the trend. Crucially, the discussion demonstrates that the pandemic appears to be not the origin of this discrimination, but rather a pretext for continuing a well-established pattern of prejudice against Asian Americans.
Forms of Anti-Asian Discrimination During COVID-19
As Strochlic points out, from the moment the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, Asian Americans became targets of negative sentiment, with some people asserting that the virus had originated from their homeland. Harassment — and in some instances assault — began to normalize as the virus spread across the country and as an unproven theory that it had originated in a Chinese laboratory gained traction. This theory was promoted by, among others, the President of the United States himself. President Trump was quoted repeatedly in the media referring to COVID-19 as the "Chinese flu" and/or "China virus." As Strochlic observes, "by April, an IPSOS poll found that three in 10 Americans blamed China or Chinese people for the virus." According to Kandil and Yam, the repercussions of associating COVID-19 with China have been immense across multiple dimensions.
Kandil and Yam observe that reports indicate discrimination against Asian Americans has been on an upward trend over the past year. By mid-July, data maintained by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council showed that nearly 2,500 individuals had already filed discrimination complaints. Croucher, Nguyen, and Rahmani note that this discrimination has taken a wide range of forms since the start of the pandemic — including wrongful dismissal at the workplace, verbal and physical intimidation, and racial slurs. Others, the authors further note, reported being spat on.
Economic and Personal Consequences
The consequences of discrimination against Asian Americans have in some cases been severe. The most direct consequence has been job loss. According to Kandil and Yam, Asian Americans have been hit disproportionately by the current wave of unemployment. For instance, a UCLA report indicates that in California, unemployment claims were filed by 83% of Asian Americans since the beginning of the pandemic — compared to only 37% of the rest of California's labor force among those with high school degrees. The situation has been compounded by the fact that many employed Asian Americans work in sectors worst affected by the pandemic, including laundries, retail and related services, and leisure and hospitality.
Kandil and Yam further observe that, in addition to job losses, the racialization of the pandemic as China-caused led to the closure of many Asian American-owned businesses. This wave of business failures has cost families their primary source of income, effectively pushing many Asian American households toward poverty. At the personal level, most Asian Americans have also had to contend with verbal and physical abuse. As Kandil and Yam document, "more than 500 new reports of microaggressions, bullying, harassment, hate speech and violence were filed from mid-June to mid-July."
Conclusion
The surge in anti-Asian discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic reflects a pattern that predates the virus itself. From the Chinese Exclusion Act of the 1880s to post-9/11 violence against South Asian Americans, the scapegoating of Asian communities in times of crisis is a recurring feature of American history. The pandemic has intensified and made visible a form of prejudice that has never fully disappeared. Addressing it meaningfully requires coordinated action at the individual, community, and governmental levels — including a commitment from political leaders to reject racially charged rhetoric and to enact protections for the communities it endangers.
Works Cited
Balvaneda, Bryan, Lizabeth Roemer, Sarah Hayes-Skeleton, Amelia Yang, and Anna Ying. "Responding to Anti-Asian Racism During the COVID-19 Outbreak." ADAA, Accessed 1 December 2020.
Croucher, Stephen M., Thao Nguyen, and Diyako Rahmani. "Prejudice Toward Asian Americans in the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Effects of Social Media Use in the United States." Frontiers in Communication, Accessed 1 December 2020.
Ho, Jennifer. "Anti-Asian Racism and COVID-19." University of Colorado, Accessed 1 December 2020.
Kandil, Caitlin, and Kimmy Yam. "Asian Americans Face Dual Challenges: Surging Unemployment and Racism." NBC News, Accessed 1 December 2020.
Strochlic, Nina. "America's Long History of Scapegoating Its Asian Citizens." National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/09/asian-american-racism-covid/. Accessed 1 December 2020.
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