As a white-passing Asian American, in the past months and year, seeing the racism toward Asians in the U.S., in my town and even in my school has been difficult to understand and hard to watch. Ever since the covid-19 pandemic started, Asians have been verbally and physically abused by people in the streets, online, etc. Asian people are being called racial slurs, being spit on, getting stabbed, having acid thrown on them, and being pushed to the ground and kicked. People have committed heinous hate crimes because of a virus that no one had control over.
Racist acts such as these have increased since the pandemic started but have come more into the light due to the March 16 shooting in Atlanta, in which eight people were killed, six of them Asian women. Innocent Americans are being killed in broad daylight, losing their lives over being of Asian descent.
Saying that a race is to blame for the spread of covid-19 is simply ignorant. Covid-19 spread like any other virus or bacteria spreads. It is difficult to read and see the news stories about this topic, because there is no way to fix ignorant people. Getting the information out is important and the best we can do.
Aisha Ford
North Huntingdon
The writer is a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic High School.