This discussion post will revolve around the portrayal of COVID-19 in the media and its effect on Asian communities in the United States in order to analyze how racial stratification is apparent in its presentation. The article called “Hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise” by Abdollah and Hughes reveals a dire reality in which many Asian Americans have found themselves in the past two years. The article claims that the rise of hate crimes against Asians is linked with the origin of COVID-19 and the former president’s insensitive remarks regarding it (Abdollah & Hughes, 2021). The popular culture, driven primarily by influence groups and politicians, created a negative image of Asians with baseless xenophobic rumors (Abdollah & Hughes, 2021). This approach allowed people to popularize the ideas that put an entire race at a severe disadvantage.
However, there is an explanation for such a hatred-driven force. There are beliefs that one’s race somehow determines problems that are to be expected from an individual, making society more divided (Berger & Guidroz, 2010). The structure of race, in the case of this article, is shown to be used as a target for stratification and perpetuates inequalities. There is a clear hierarchy that is being created and upheld by such a discrimination campaign, yet Asian Americans were targeted by studies of racism rarer than other ethnic groups in the United States (Fitzgerald, 2014). In conclusion, the article by Abdollah and Hughes reveals how stratification is being upheld against Asian Americans during the pandemic via harmful stereotypes. Asians experience racial stratification akin to other ethnic minority groups yet receive less coverage while facing similar troubles with xenophobia and inequalities stemming from it.
References
Abdollah, T., & Hughes, T. (2021, February 27). Hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise. Here’s what activists, lawmakers, and police are doing to stop the violence. USA Today. Web.
Berger, M. T., & Guidroz, K. (2010). The intersectional approach: Transforming the Academy through race, class, and gender. University of North Carolina Press.
Fitzgerald, K. J. (2014). Recognizing race and ethnicity: Power, privilege, and inequality. Hachette UK.