![]() The “perpetual foreigner” stereotype is ringing in the ears of many Asian Americans. It is a racially loaded linguistic marker. Notice Trump’s interchangeable use of the terms “Chinese” and “foreign.” This is no innocent geographical marker. For the adjective “Chinese” does not just signify a geographical space, but also a group of people. It is thus outright disingenuous for Trump to say that his calling it the “Chinese virus” only describes its origin. Its aim is to persuade people of a conviction-in this case that foreigners are dirty, infectious, to be avoided. The use of language in the political arena, however, is always rhetorically engineered, meaning it’s loaded with political baggage. To be sure, the origin of the virus is the city of Wuhan in China. In the meantime, Asian Americans are being harassed in many places. It’s his major skill that put him in power today. Yet, he’s quick to make this a racialized war. His administration has been criticized for being slow to make sure that people get tested-and have access to tests to get tested-which can have deadly consequence. Yet President Donald Trump -the one who should be leading by example to keep the nation calm and informed-continues to insist on naming Covid-19 “the Chinese virus” or “the foreign virus.” He would use this racially charged term in every speech or tweet. It’s completely unprecedented in living memory. None of us has seen anything like this in our lives. ![]() ![]() To flatten the curve, social distancing has become the new normal. Home has become a quarantine space, a protection from terror. With the death toll rising exponentially every day, who is not afraid of this angel of death? We are living in fear. Special thanks to Erika Lee (the author of The Making of Asian America, who's research shows up countless times within this), Samiha Alam (because without her, the timeline would have never gotten done), and all of the activists who paved the way for our generation to stand, educate, fight here today.Īcknowledged by Ellen Lupton on Instagram.Like wildfire, the Covid-19 pandemic is racing to every corner of the earth, affecting all of humanity. In unique ways, each piece affirms the fact that Asian American history is American history. As the heart of this project, it reveals the substantial history of Asians in America, starting from 1565. Slant is a magazine that ties together relationships between the past, present, and future of the Asian American community.Īn American Narrative, a long vertical timeline which assumes the visual weight of a scroll, common in Eastern art and calligraphy. Perpetual Foreigner: A Lexicon is a dictionary of Asian American culture, highlighting categories of activism, community, immigration, and sexuality. The Forgotten Revolution is an accordion book that examines the lives of six key figures of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s–70s. Perpetual Foreigner is a multi-platform thesis that serves the Asian American community by showcasing its history which is otherwise absent in the greater American consciousness. As a result, the vast majority of Asian Americans don’t know their own history. The role of Asian Americans is cursorily mentioned, if at all, in high school history classes, perpetuating the idea that Asian culture is merely secondary to the “American” narrative, not worthy of significant inclusion in the primary curriculum. This history is virtually unknown to those who have not lived it. Perpetually foreign, Asian Americans are rejected as members of American society despite the rich and significant, yet unpublicized, role Asian Americans have played in US history. In spite of how long Asian Americans have lived in the United States, they are often not seen as true Americans.
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