Asian North Americans, George Floyd and the politics of anti-Asian and anti-Black racism in COVID-19 times

Abstract

This paper examines the intersections of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pandemic of systemic racism by focusing on how Asians in COVID-19 times have been multiply constructed as the vectors of infection, national security threats, victims of anti-Asian racism, and harbingers of anti-Black racism. I do so by drawing on public and media representations of and Asian responses to the two Asian people directly implicated in the death of George Floyd: Tou Thao and Kellie Chauvin. George Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin when Chauvin pressed his knees on George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was faced down on the ground. Floyd’s killing sparked months of protests in the United States and globally. It is estimated that approximately 20 million people in the United States participated in protests regarding Floyd’s death within the first month alone (Buchanan, Bui and Patel July 3, 2020).