Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, decried racism as Chinese restaurants in U.S. cities struggle to retain customers in the wake of the novel coronavirus.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, we have seen not only the spreading of the virus but also a rapid spreading of racism and xenophobia,” said Pressley. “We have witnessed at the highest levels, in fact, of the Republican Party fanning, irresponsibly, these flames.”
Pressley was referencing, in part, a tweet from Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy referring to the disease as the “Chinese coronavirus.” Twitter users debated the validity of associating a virus with its place of origin, with many showing examples of network analysts joining the calls against McCarthy even though they themselves had called the disease the “Wuhan coronavirus” in the early days of the outbreak.
Pressley’s claim comes only days after fellow Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Instagram to blast what she also believed was “straight-up racism” toward Asian Americans as the epidemic spread. In early March, CNN reported a dramatic drop in patronage to Chinese-owned businesses in the New York City area.
“My district is home to nearly 32% foreign-born residents, with more than a quarter immigrating from Asia,” added Pressley. “This painful rhetoric has consequences. Restaurants across Boston’s Chinatown have seen up to an 80% drop in business, and I believe this has everything to do with the rapid spread of misinformation and paranoia.”
Public gatherings, sports events, and schools have shuttered in the United States in an attempt to stave off the spread COVID-19.
