Former NBA star Jeremy Lin has slammed President Trump for “empowering racism” by continuing to call the Coronavirus “The Chinese Virus”.
Yesterday Trump claimed that Asian Americans “would 100% agree” with calling Covid-19 “The Chinese Virus”.
Consequently, he continues to use the term in his tweets. In one tweet, Trump wrote, “The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!”
Responding to the tweet, Lin wrote, “I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering.”
One Twitter user replied to Lin defending Trump’s use of the term. “Every major media outlet called it Wuhan virus before trump,” the social media user commented.
Lin then hit back with, “Can you honestly tell me there is ZERO anti-Chinese sentiment in all his characterizations of the virus? Can you honestly tell me Asians aren’t being unfairly physically attacked today in the US? Is it that hard to use coronavirus or COVID-19? We playin the blame game in a crisis”
In a separate tweet, Lin also dismissed people using the Spanish Flu as a reference. “And I dont wanna hear about no German measles/Spanish flu bc everyday Asian-Americans inc ppl I know are threatened and physically attacked. I dont give a crap about the history of names rn. What I do know is this subtle anti-Chinese message only empowers more hate towards asians,” he tweeted.
Asian American lawmakers have been urging Congress members to help to combat racism linked to the Coronavirus.
Rep. Judy Chu, said it is “harmful” to describe the virus as “Chinese”, adding that “calling the 2019 novel coronavirus the ‘Chinese’ or ‘Wuhan’ coronavirus is as descriptive as calling it the ‘CPAC coronavirus’ — that is to say not descriptive at all. Worse, it’s harmful.”
Numerous colleagues of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy also called for him to apologise for calling the virus “Chinese”.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described McCarthy’s tweet as “dangerous.”
“Calling it the ‘Chinese coronavirus’ isn’t just racist,” Harris tweeted. “It’s dangerous and incites discrimination against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants.”
In New York City, an Asian man was seen being sprayed with a bottle cleaning product on the subway.
Most recently, an elderly Asian woman was chased with a bottle of hand sanitizer in Florida.
In related news, Mulan star Tzi Ma and Wu Assassins actress Celia Au are advocating #WashTheHate in an effort to combat Coronavirus racism.
🤦🏻♂️I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering https://t.co/QfRHiOFGEm
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
Can you honestly tell me there is ZERO anti-Chinese sentiment in all his characterizations of the virus? Can you honestly tell me Asians aren't being unfairly physically attacked today in the US? Is it that hard to use coronavirus or COVID-19? We playin the blame game in a crisis https://t.co/OsGo5wvW1k
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
And I dont wanna hear about no German measles/Spanish flu bc everyday Asian-Americans inc ppl I know are threatened and physically attacked. I dont give a crap about the history of names rn. What I do know is this subtle anti-Chinese message only empowers more hate towards asians
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) March 17, 2020
