COVID-19 and Food Racism - Isabella Tuch (revised)

By Anonymous

 


This photo depicts poster art of Asian-American New York City residents stating "I did not make you sick", "This is our home too" and "I am not your scapegoat." These posters served to spread awareness regarding the spread of Asian hate during the COVID-19 Pandemic and to convey a message regarding the othering of Asian Americans during the pandemic. Each of these posters are colorful and contain cultural symbolism in order to connect art that conveys positive emotions and cultural heritage. These posters also contain hashtags stating “OurHomeNYC.” These posters are not meant to further otherize Asian Americans but to show that their culture is still part of their life as Americans. America is their home and their culture should still be a beautiful way to celebrate their heritage without de-Americanizing them.
Towards the end of 2019, COVID-19, a mysterious virus that would lead to one of the largest pandemics in history, originated in Wuhan, China; it is considered to have spread from animals to people in one of Wuhan's "wet markets" (Gover, Harper, & Langton 2020). In connection, this led to a surge of race-based hate crimes against Asian Americans due to the stigmatization-- specifically, that of food. From an increase in dog whistles such as the "China Virus" as stated by the then president, Donald Trump, to physical assaults, many othered Asian Americans in order to perpetuate blame leading to immense hate. Strong associations began to be made with Asian, and more specifically, Chinese food, and disease in order to further stigmatize and associate marginalized groups with the COVID-19 pandemic (Huang, Krupenkin, Rothschild, & Cunningham 2023). 
Douglas argues that "rituals of purity and impurity create unity in experience" (Douglas 3); this can thenceforth other the outside group that has different ideas surrounding dirt. "If we treat ritual protection of body orifices as a symbol of social preoccupations about exits and entrances, the purity of cooked food becomes important" (Douglas 156). This translates to food racism during the COVID-19 pandemic in which people began to associate Asian food with something impure, using a different food culture as a "dirty" scapegoat. However, just because a food is different does not make it unclean. Despite this, people used a different culture of eating habits to justify hate, creating an "us and them" of food and dirt.
Douglas, Mary. 1966. Purity and Danger. London and New York: Routledge Classics.
Gover, Angela R., Harper, Shannon B., & Langton, Lynn. 2020. "Anti-Asian Hate Crime During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Reproduction of Inequality." American Journal of Criminal Justice. 

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