Countering Racial Stereotypes During COVID-19 Pandemic

As racial tensions intensify across the nation, Bayside Community Center is working with Project Butterfly to counter racial stereotypes and distribute face masks to local businesses.

A man helps a shop owner pick up a display stand after a group of teenagers vandalize the store in Chinatown San Francisco. © 2020 CrimesAgainstAsians/Facebook

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in the U.S. this March, over 1,700 reports of corona-virus related discrimination have been reported against people of Asian descent according to one California advocacy group.

Nancy Wang Yuen, Ph.D. describes the effects of the pandemic and the racially motivated acts that followed as such: “I feel like I’m dealing with two pandemics: COVID-19 and anti-Asian racism. Like so many of us, I was already dealing with social isolation, economic uncertainty, and a pandemic threat. This left me too depleted to cope with the uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans after the coronavirus disease, COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan, China.”

The increase in racially motivated acts and attacks led United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to comment that “the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering.” The Secretary-General also urged governments to “act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate.”

This month, Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month, Bayside Community Center, and Project Butterfly have partnered to counter negative and medically unfounded stereotypes throughout Linda Vista. Project Butterfly, founded by 13 year-olds Ruby Gao and Katherine Ge, has coordinated with San Diego Chinese American organizations to raise over $200,000 to purchase face masks and other personal protective equipment for healthcare facilities, seniors, and local businesses.

As business reopened throughout the month, Bayside wanted to be sure that workers and business owners in Linda Vista were protected and not overlooked. “This pandemic is affecting every community a little different and we’re saddened to see the particularly hurtful impact on Asian and Asian-descent communities,” commented Adam Osorio, Associate Director of Communications at Bayside. "Racism, the inequalities it has bred, and the acts of violence that it makes possible are still a large part of American society. That’s not what we want to see especially here in Linda Vista one of San Diego’s most diverse neighborhoods.”

Project Butterfly and Bayside Community Center have already distributed hundreds of masks to Linda Vista businesses throughout along with the message ‘we are in this together, lets leave no room for hate.’ More masks are scheduled to be distributed in the future. Learn how you can support Bayside Community Center here.