Racism and Covid-19
March 2020
Recently I have done a series of media interviews about the spike in racism towards Chinese and other East and Southeast Asians in the UK as a result of the racialization of Covid-19 (Coronavirus). In attempt to intervene into dominant media discourses on the topic, which tend to focus on recent racial attacks on East and Southeast Asians as a new phenomenon, I have talked about a far longer history of racism, which includes its disavowal and the pernicious way it is deemed a ‘joke’, as well as de-individualising the current attacks by locating them in a wider racial landscape that includes systemic state violence. You can see my interview with Arirang News here, Channel 5 News here and my interviews with CGTN Europe here and here. My Channel 5 interview was also cited here.
