The media reports an upsurge of attacks on Asian-Americans recently. There were eight Asian people killed in Georgia in the U.S. in March. A report in mid-Feb. in USA Today[1] says that they arrested a suspect in connection with a brutal attack of a 91-year-old man in Chinatown that was caught on camera. In less than a week, a Thai man was attacked and killed in San Francisco, a Vietnamese woman was assaulted and robbed of $1,000 in San Jose, and a Filipino man was attacked with a box cutter on the subway in New York City. There have been 2,808 reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans in the U.S. since Dec 31, 2020 and mid-March, 2021.
The problem seems to exist of feelings of anger toward all Asians because of the perception that Asians have brought the virus to the U.S. While the virus is thought to have originated in China, it is not true that Asian people or any human being could purposely pack a virus into a suitcase and release it in the U.S. in order to kill people. Things don’t work that way. And ordinary Asian residents wouldn’t have anything to do with it anyway. Just like the vast majority of people in the U.S. and Canada don’t have anything to do with the inner workings of government, Asian people in the U.S. don’t have anything to do with the virus. And Asia is not a country. It is a continent. Asian people can be from many countries, each of which have their own government. China is but one country, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are separate countries. Not all Asian people are from China.
So it makes no sense that Asian people in the U.S. are being killed, because they would have nothing to do with the virus. The virus is from China and the people killed are from different countries. And they came over to the U.S. because they prefer to live in the U.S. Just because they look similar does not mean that they are similar or have similar beliefs. Think about it. A Canadian who lives in the prairies of Western Canada is vastly different from an American who lives in New York City even though they look the same.
When we read the news we have to remember that what we are reading is actually different than the way things usually go, and that’s why it is news. It does not mean that things have changed drastically in society, although the media may write it that way. When eight Asian people were killed in Georgia, it is a horrible thing, and suggests some problems with one person with racism, violence, sexual adjustment, lack of empathy, entitlement, and the need to take things into his hands by undertaking violence with guns. It does indicate a serious problem with attributions of cause and effect, and is a tragedy for those involved, and is fearful for all Asians. My heart goes out to them, and to all racialized people, as well as to anyone who fears they are vulnerable to being killed.
But we must remember, that, in spite of what the media tells us, about a recent surge in violence against Asian-Americans, that this horrible murder did not happen in all other 49 states, or any of the ten Canadian provinces. Nevertheless, there have been 2,808 reports of racism and discrimination against Asian Americans since Dec 31, 2020 and mid-March, 2021, so, there is a definite problem.
It is understandable that people are angry at the virus entering the U.S. And angry people do not think. They mistakenly want to do quick action. This is what happens when troubled thinking is not checked in its infancy. This is what happens when fears from racism and conspiracies infect the thinking of the insecure and those people who are prone to fear and hate, contagious emotions which easily infect the mind. Fear and hate are often involved in emotion-driven thinking. But emotion-driven-thinking is not thinking at all, because emotions don’t think, the mind does. The emotions just displace the mind at these times and take over the job of thinking and making decisions. So some angry people, with emotion-driven thinking, may think that people who look the same are similar in their behavior and tendencies. If we think about it a little more, we quickly realize that a banker who lives in New York City and works on Wall St. will probably not know anything about how to grow wheat in the Canadian prairie province of Saskatchewan, formerly called the Wheat province, and Canada’s largest producer of grains, even though they may look the same. It is the same thing when we who live in Canada, the U.S, or other places in the Western world think about people who live in South Eastern Asia, since people in China, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines will not think the same just because they look the same. Besides, the regular people in these countries do not have anything to do with causing the virus. And the Asian people who already have lived in The U.S. and Canada before the virus hit have nothing to do with it either.
It is important to realize when you may be doing this, and then have a talk with yourself, and remind yourself that emotions don’t think. Emotions just give simple messages. Think of the New York banker and the farmer from the Canadian prairies and how they are different. Does an emotion add up 2 and 2 properly? No, it might have the answer at 22, because emotions usually like stuff. For example, if a child got two ice cream cones with a flavor that they liked, let’s say chocolate, strawberry or whatever they liked the most, and became very happy, and had a chance for another 2, their happiness would take over the adding of 2 plus 2 and would have the answer as composing of 2 2’s, which may be 22 to the child who hasn’t learned arithmetic yet, so they would expect 22 ice cream cones. Not a bad, deal eh? That’s what happens when emotions try and think. They can’t add. Only the mind does that. The emotions would get disappointed when there are only four ice cream cones.
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/12/asian-hate-incidents-covid-19-lunar-new-year/4447037001/