A quarter of Americans witnessed Asians being blamed for Covid-19
AS violence against Asian origin people in the US is on the rise, including a recent mass shooting of seven people of Asian descent in Atlanta, a new survey has found that a quarter of Americans have witnessed someone blaming Asian people for the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the latest USA Today/Ipsos poll figures represent a decline from last April, when one-third witnessed this. While a majority of Americans believe the Covid-19 pandemic is a natural disaster, around a quarter of all Americans blame China for the pandemic.
The nationwide survey was conducted in the wake of last week’s mass shooting in Georgia that killed eight people, six of them women of Asian descent. The survey was also taken following the reports across the country of physical assaults and verbal abuse against Asian Americans have jumped during the yearlong pandemic.
‘While a 57 percent majority of Americans describe the Covid-19 pandemic as a natural disaster, 43 per cent say they believe a particular organization or people is responsible. In response to an open-ended question, most in that group specified China, comprising nearly one in four of the total survey,’ the study revealed.
In an Ipsos poll last April, one-third of those surveyed reported having seen Asians being blamed for the pandemic, seven points higher than in the new survey.
But the change in attitudes over the past year about coming into close contact with someone of Asian descent is complicated. ‘The number who expresses fear about being near someone of Asian ancestry is relatively unchanged, at 21 percent. But the percentage concerned about being close to an Asian American who isn’t wearing a mask or other protective gear rose eight points, to a 54 per cent majority,’ the latest survey showed.
There was no such significant shift in views about being close to people in general who weren’t wearing protective gear.
‘As was the case in last year’s poll, black, Hispanic, and Asian respondents is significantly more likely than white respondents to say they have seen blame directed at Asian people,’ the survey said.
‘Currently, 18 percent of white respondents have witnessed this, compared to 46 percent of Asian respondents, 40 percent of Black respondents, and 34percent of Hispanic respondents’.