The Undefeated reports that Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp is doing his part to combat Coronavirus racism.
Responding to a video showing an elderly Asian man being assaulted in a car park, Rapp said he was disgusted.
“That really stood out to me and kind of broke my heart because that could be my grandpa,” the Asian American footballer said.
Last week it was reported that over 650 attacks on Asian Americans were reported within a one week span. Rep Judy Chu has since stated that the number is closer to 100 incidents per day.
Consequently, Rapp has joined Athletes for Impact – a global athlete activism organisation that aims to combat racist violence towards Asians, particularly during the pandemic period.
Although President Trump has since stated that the virus is “not the fault of Asian Americans”, he came under fire for repeatedly referring to the virus as “Chinese”. At one point, the president even went as far as saying Asian Americans “would 100% agree” with calling the Coronavirus “The Chinese Virus”.
For Rapp, using “The Chinese Virus” rhetoric “fuels the fire” against Asian Americans.
“These higher-ups need to call it the correct name, because when you call it the ‘Chinese virus’ and the ‘Wuhan virus,’ they’re just fueling the fire for Asians and especially Chinese people to get harassed and picked on and more of this rage against them,” he said.
“A virus doesn’t have a nationality or race.”
The 22-year-old believes that the harassment towards Asians stems from assailants being scared.
“It breaks my heart to see all that,” he said, “because I think people are acting out of fear and uncertainty and not really thinking straight.”
In other news, Kim Jaejoong from Kpop group JYJ pretended to have Coronavirus as an April Fools joke.
In other news, Kim Jaejoong from Kpop group JYJ pretended to have Coronavirus as an April Fools joke.
