The coronavirus pandemic was naturally the lead national story in Monday’s New York Times. Far less helpful but more racially inflammatory was the angle taken by reporter Matt Stevens, blaming Trump for hateful rhetoric directed as Asian-Americans.
Another piece in the Times on Monday would, incredibly, praise Franklin Roosevelt, the man who interned Japanese Americans during World War II. But first, here is the headline for the Stevens story: “For Asian-Americans, Taunts Are Painful Echo of ‘Outsiders’ Status -- Hard-Won Gains at Risk Amid a Torrent of Hate.”
Soon after President Trump first uttered the phrase “Chinese virus,” Representative Grace Meng got a call from her parents, who had read about it in the newspaper. Had Mr. Trump, they wondered, really given the coronavirus that corrosive moniker?
Yes, she told them, indeed he had. And no, despite being a member of Congress and her parents’ continued pleas, there was nothing she could do to make him stop.
“I have, at times, felt helpless,” said Ms. Meng, a Democrat from New York whose large and multicultural district encompasses many neighborhoods in Queens, including Flushing....
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And then along came the coronavirus -- a pandemic that unleashed a torrent of hate and violence as bigots blamed Asian-Americans for the outbreak. In recent weeks, they have been yelled at, spit on, physically attacked and more, leading at least three organizations to begin tracking the episodes....
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But they also spoke of a profound sadness; despite a long struggle for hard-won educational, economic and political gains, the xenophobic attacks and political rhetoric of the last month have served as a reminder that, especially under Mr. Trump, Asian-Americans may never fully be able to shake the feeling that they are perpetual foreigners.
Stevens linked a handful of documented cases nationwide, based on anecdotal reports about assaults not linked to Trump voters, to America’s past history of discrimination.
The racist abuse on display has evoked painful memories. Asian-American leaders were quick to recall the government-sponsored discrimination baked into the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Japanese internment in the 1940s....
Internment by executive order of liberal hero President Franklin Roosevelt, name unmentioned.
This quote wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, if the liberal Times bothered to offer any scrutiny of left-wing ranting:
And still others said the current situation contained strong echoes of the period after Sept. 11, 2001, when “anyone who was brown was equated with being a terrorist,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside.
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Asian-American leaders in particular have sounded the alarm about Republican messaging that they say stigmatizes their community and fans racism. Ms. Chu, who is chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, sent a letter to her colleagues last month urging them not to spread misconceptions....
After all that posing about bigotry against Asian-Americans, it was ironic to read the lead editorial on Monday by opinion writer Jamelle Bouie praising President Franklin Roosevelt, who interred Japanese-Americans during World War II, comparing him unfavorably to President Donald Trump: “D.J.T. Is No F.D.R.” Not a word about internment camps.
