Texas Tech University

As coronavirus spreads, some Asian Americans worry their leaders’ language stokes a stigma

The Texas Tribune

March 23, 2020

The Texas Tribune - Until recently, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s daily podcast was most famous for one thing: daily musings about the U.S. Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. But in mid-March, the state’s junior senator waded into a new topic. While reflecting on his self-imposed self-quarantine, he defended the president for the administration’s response to the novel coronavirus.

"The renaming will have broader meanings and implications for Asians and Asian Americans in the country and around the globe," said Yuan Shu, the director of the Asian Studies Program at Texas Tech University. "This gesture will fuel a new wave of crimes and stigmatizes the entire racial group.

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