In a time where our nation is facing a pandemic, it is more important than ever to have a Unifier-in-Chief to lead and guide us. President Trump has exhibited the opposite of that. Rather than focusing wholeheartedly on getting necessary testing and relief to affected communities, Trump has chosen to use inflammatory and racist rhetoric as a distraction from his failures as Commander-in-Chief. But while we recognize it to be the distraction that it is, we cannot ignore these remarks because they endanger and potentially exacerbate violence against Asian American individuals.

Trump has repeatedly called COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” despite warnings from public health officials that such rhetoric could result in discriminatory behavior, and despite the World Health Organization’s guidelines for naming infectious diseases. 

This language does not make our neighborhoods safer, but isolates, divides, and inflicts harm on our Asian American children, families, and businesses. At times like this, we all need to come together to fight against COVID-19 and racist rhetoric alike.