Author: Shelly Xu

Iowa’s Asian Americans Experience Increasing Racism Under COVID-19 Pandemic

By Shiyu Xu

When Hannah Pinski, a sophomore at the University of Iowa, returned to campus in September, she was worried.

As she walked along the street near the downtown area after picking up her books from the book store, a woman grabbed her kids and pulled them away from Pinski as she was passing by. As soon as they passed Pinski, the woman let go of her kids.

“I felt very pointed,” Pinski said.

A month later in October when Covid-19 cases in Iowa started to spike again, Pinski was waiting in line outside a restaurant. Just like everyone else in line, she stood inside the box marked on the ground for social distancing. A man stood behind her took a step back to move further away from her, even that meant he had to be less than 6-ft from the person behind him.

During the pandemic, the Asian community has confronted the dual-threat: the infection of the Covid-19 virus and the infliction of xenophobic assaults.

In one of the whitest states in the country, the Chinese nationals and immigrants in Iowa are vulnerable to the increasing racial tension in their everyday life.

Iowans of Asian or Pacific Islander descent make up 2.7% and 0.1% of Iowa’s population, according to the State Data Center, with Des Moines, Ames and Iowa City having the largest numbers. That percentage is projected to grow to 4.4% by 2050.

Pinkski says even at her school, she feels she stands out.
“This is why it’s very easy for us to become the target,” she said. “We’re very much sometimes the only ones in the room.”

According to Iowa state’s Covid-19 data, more than 221,000 people have tested positive as of Dec.3. Among them, around 6,254 are Asian. The death rate for the Asian community in the state is 1.4%.

The chart below shows the total positive cases among each race in Iowa. Among the minority races, Asian’s number is the second-highest, following those who identify as black.

Under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, any person has 300 days from the last discriminatory incident to file a complaint alleging discrimination. “Therefore, it is entirely possible that many claims alleging discrimination related to COVID-19 have not yet been filed,” Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission wrote to the Register and IowaWatch.

The graph down below shows the number of deaths from Covid-19 among each racial group in Iowa. Similar to the total case number, the death number for Asians in the state is the second-highest, following the black community.

To keep track of incidents in Iowa, the Asian alliance has created an online form where community members can submit reports of harassment and discrimination.

Nu Huynh, the Executive Director of Iowa Asian Alliance, says so far they only received a handful of reports, and most of them are verbal bullying and abuse instead of physical harm.

“We’ve been blessed and fortunate that we did experience what we were seeing around the country,” Huynh said. “But at the same time, we didn’t want to be blinded and not do anything about it. We did this so people feel safe and get their voice out.”

Huynh said in Iowa, more recent immigrant refugee populations have experienced more bullying, targeted by other minorities. And this existed before the pandemic.

“What we felt as a community is given the current political environment and the current state of everything, it just gave people more reason to show their true colors and to act upon it,” Huynh said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, President Donald Trump’s administration has been using languages such as “Chinese virus” and “Kung Flu” repeatedly to associate blame on Asian Americans.

According to the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, there have been more than 2,583 anti-Asian American hate incidents reported between March and August.

Among the reports, seven out of ten incidents involved verbal harassment, which included racial slurs, name-calling, and profanities. Shunning, the deliberate avoidance made up 22% of the incidents. Physical assaults made up 9% of the incidents. Online harassment made up 4.8%.

More than half of Asian Americans are worried about being subject to COVID-19-related hate crimes and discrimination, according to the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey.

As the nation is facing a second surge in the coronavirus infection, Asians like in Iowa fear their lives won’t be able to go back to normal under the racism against the Asian American community.

“The damage has been done, you can’t get back,” Huynh said. “Now, I feel like it’s being talked about a little more, and that anxiety has gone down. But it’s still there. It’s something that’s not going to go away.”

 

Shelly’s revised story

Iowa’s Asian Americans Experience Increasing Racism Under COVID-19 Pandemic

By Shiyu Xu

Rachel Li is a sophomore majoring in medical anthropology and music at University of Iowa. When the U.S. began reporting its first COVID-19 cases in February, Li attended a comedy event hosted at the Iowa Memorial Union. During the event, where an individual in the audience stood up and made a COVID-19 joke towards Asian Americans.

“I was one of maybe three Asians there,” Li said. “The host called him out, and I ended up approaching him to stand up for myself. He ended up leaving after he was confronted by both me and the host.”

During this fall semester, Li was walking on the UI campus surrounded by white students, when a maskless woman put her hand up to her face when she approached Li and immediately dropped it as soon as she passed her.

During the pandemic, the Asian community has confronted the dual-threat: the infection of the Covid-19 virus and the infliction of xenophobic assaults.

In one of the whitest states in the country, the Chinese nationals and immigrants in Iowa are vulnerable to the increasing racial tension in their everyday life.

Shu Wan, a graduate student from University of Iowa, launched a project called “An Oral History of Iowa’s Chinese Americans and Nationals Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic”, which conducts oral history research in three major towns in Iowa, including Ames, Iowa City, and Des Moines. 

Through the research, many Asian individuals shared their experiences during the ongoing pandemic.

Caitlyn Valencia, a Filipino third-year and first-generation student, says she is frustrated with the racist language used to describe the virus.

“I don’t feel welcome here, and it’s not right because America is supposed to be built off of diversity,” Valencia said. “It’s sad that now privilege includes being looked at as a person instead of a scapegoat. Nowadays being Asian also means being viewed as a target for blame.”

Iowans of Asian or Pacific Islander descent make up 2.7% and 0.1% of Iowa population, according to the State Data Center, with Des Moines, Ames and Iowa City having the largest numbers. That percentage is projected to grow to 4.4% by 2050.

According to Iowa state’s Covid-19 data, more than 221,000 people have tested positive as of Dec.3. Among them, around 6,254 are Asian. The death rate for Asian community in the state is 1.4%.

The chart below shows the total positive cases among each race in Iowa. Among the minority races, Asian’s number is the second highest, following those who identify as black.

The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has had two race discrimination complaints filed by Asians so far this year, said Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the commission. There were eight in 2019 and 12 in 2018. Eleven were filed in 2017 with eight in 2016.

Johnson said that under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, any person has 300 days from the last discriminatory incident to file a complaint alleging discrimination. “Therefore, it is entirely possible that many claims alleging discrimination related to COVID-19 have not yet been filed,” she wrote by email to the Register and IowaWatch.

The graph down below shows the number of deaths from Covid-19 among each racial group in Iowa. Similar to the total case number, the death number for Asians in the state is the second highest, following the black  community.

To keep track of incidents in Iowa, the Asian alliance has created an online form where community members can submit reports of harassment and discrimination.

Reports show racial discrimination against Asians and Asian-Americans have increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have already been almost 2,600 reported cases of anti-Asian discrimination in the U.S. between March and July 2020. More than half of Asian Americans are worried about being subject to COVID-19-related hate crimes and discrimination, according to the 2020 Asian American Voter Survey.

The chart below shows the total positive cases among each race in Iowa. Among the minority races, Asian’s number is very close to the number for those who identify as black.

Although Asians only account for less than 3% of the Iowa population, they are suffering as much as the other racial minority groups.

The graph down below shows the number of deaths from Covid-19 among each racial group in Iowa. Similar to the total case number, the death number for Asians in the state is very close to the black and hispanic community.

With its population being less than 3% in the state, the death rate for Asian community is about 1.4%.

Iowa’s Asian Community Experience Increasing Racism Under COVID-19 Pandemic

By Shiyu Xu

During the pandemic, the Asian community has confronted the dual-threat: the infection of the Covid-19 virus and the infliction of xenophobic assaults. 

In one of the whitest states in the country, the Asian community in Iowa has become more vulnerable to the increasing racial tension under the ongoing pandemic. 

Shu Wan, a graduate student from the University of Iowa, launched a project called “An Oral History of Iowa’s Chinese Americans and Nationals Experiences during the COVID-19 Pandemic”, which conducts oral history research in three major towns in Iowa, including Ames, Iowa City, and Des Moines. 

Through the research, many Asian individuals shared their experiences during the ongoing pandemic. 

Rachel Li, a sophomore majoring in medical anthropology and music, has faced racism incidents while being on the University of Iowa campus.

When the U.S. began reporting its first COVID-19 cases in February, Li attended a comedy event hosted at the Iowa Memorial Union where an individual in the audience stood up and made a COVID-19 joke towards Asian Americans.

“I was one of maybe three Asians there,” Li said. “The host called him out, and I ended up approaching him to stand up for myself. He ended up leaving after he was confronted by both me and the host.”

During this fall semester, Li was walking on the UI campus surrounded by white students, when a maskless woman put her hand up to her face when she approached Li and immediately dropped it as soon as she passed her.

Caitlyn Valencia, a Filipino third-year and first-generation student, says she is frustrated with the racist language used to describe the virus.

“I don’t feel welcome here, and it’s not right because America is supposed to be built off of diversity,” Valencia said. “It’s sad that now privilege includes being looked at as a person instead of a scapegoat. Nowadays being Asian also means being viewed as a target for blame.”

Iowans of Asian or Pacific Islander descent make up 2.7 percent and 0.1 percent of Iowa’s population, according to the State Data Center, with Des Moines, Ames and Iowa City having the largest numbers. That percentage is projected to grow to 4.4% by 2050. 

(The chart below shows the total positive cases among each race in Iowa. Among the minority races, Asian’s number is very close to the number for those who identify as black.)

(Although Asians only account for less than 3% of the Iowa population, they are suffering as much as the other racial minority groups.)

(The graph down below shows the number of deaths from Covid-19 among each racial group in Iowa. Similar to the total case number, the death number for Asians in the state is very close to the black and hispanic community.)

(With its population being less than 3% in the state, the death rate for Asian community is about 1.4%.)
According to Iowa state’s Covid-19 data, more than 223,500 people have tested positive as of November 29. Among them, around 4,392 are Asian. The death rate for the Asian community in the state is 1.4%. 

The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has received two race discrimination complaints filed by Asians so far this year, said Elizabeth Johnson, executive director of the commission. There were eight in 2019 and 12 in 2018. Eleven were filed in 2017 with eight in 2016.

Johnson said that under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, any person has 300 days from the last discriminatory incident to file a complaint alleging discrimination. “Therefore, it is entirely possible that many claims alleging discrimination related to COVID-19 have not yet been filed.”

To keep track of incidents in Iowa, the Asian alliance has created an online form where community members can submit reports of harassment and discrimination. 

Pitch:

In Iowa, according to the COVID Tracking Project Racial Data Dashboard, Black Iowans comprise about 4% of the state population but 11% of COVID-19 cases and 5% of COVID-19 deaths in the state. Asians, as well, have a very similar case numbers in Iowa, and the highest death numbers, which I don’t see a lot of reporting. I want to look into the reasons behind why Asian community is suffering from Covid-19 in Iowa. What factors are in play to account for such a difference? And how can health care providers work to address these disparities?

Potential sources:

1. University of Iowa Health Care has a “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force” to help with racial disparity and the reasons behind it.
2. Iowa Department of Health Services focuses on ensuring the safety and well-being of their healthcare team and those we serve during the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Several stories on Asian Iowans see increased xenophobia, harassment during coronavirus pandemic. I could reach out to the publications.

 

In this data visualization, I was focusing on the death numbers from Covid19, by each racial group. I found out that among all the known cases and known races, the death numbers among the hispanic community is the highest. There are reports on racial disparity among the hispanic group in Iowa. However, there are not much reporting on the reasons behind such disparity. I want to look into why the there are no reporting and investigation yet.

 

Pitch one:

From this data visualization, I found out that the case numbers among Asians and Black communities are almost equal, which is a little surprising to me, because from all the reportings, not many are mentioning the Asian racial group. I want to look into why that number is being underreported.

When I first heard about the Covid Tracking Project, I was very impressed by the work they do to collect the numbers and bring them to the public. At the beginning of my volunteer experience, I chose to do 3 states – Iowa, Pennsylvania and Nebraska. Even though the data can be found on each state’s official website, sometimes it does take longer to find the correct number and put it onto the sheet. This is definitely a job that requires patience and care.

Among the states, I spent the most time on Iowa. It was the first state I did and It took me a while to look around the web page and locate the right number. Through the process, I also learned about new terms such as Antigen test, PCR. I had to carefully read the instructions. First I had trouble locating the hospitalization numbers, eventually I found it under a different section within the dashboard. I could imagine how much work it might require a person to find all these numbers from different pages.

I haven’t got access to actually do a shift yet. But I think the practice rounds really prepared me a lot. People from the team are also very helpful along the way. The use of Slack was super helpful and effective as well for communication. I really look forward to learning more about the project and contribute to the data entry team.