Racial Discrimination in the Contemporary Society
The outbreak of COVID-19 has yet again raised the issue of racial discrimination in contemporary society. Cases of racial abuse have been recorded in different parts of the world, with the Asian descent recording the highest cases of victimization. The attackers have been caught on tape physically or verbally abusing people of the Asian descent for spreading the COVID-19 virus. However, psychologists argue that some of the behaviors depicted by the attackers were a condition. Apparently, the Asians act as a trigger to the condition, which then escalates to violence. The emergence of the COVID-19 virus has therefore led to attacks on people of Asian descent, regardless of whether they are infected or not due to social psychological factors affecting them.
A student from the Zion Language school was attacked during a fire drill for not putting the “Corona mask,” which can be attributed to racial discrimination. The victim was attacked by someone who knew her, which shows that the attack was deliberate. According to information from the police, during the attack, the victim was referred to as “Asian,” which was the first region to record the first case of the COVID-19 virus. There have been several physical attacks in the US, targeting people of Asian descent, which is classified as a hate crime by the police. People close to the attacker argue that the attacker did not have a previous record of being violent. Therefore, the attack on the student of Asian descent was seen as an abnormality from the student. However, it is apparent that the attack on the Asian student was racially charged.
In the second incident, a 59-year-old man of Asian descent was attacked by a local. Footage shows the attacker abusing the man using anti-Asian terms. Although the attacker did not mention COVID-19 during the incident, it is apparent that it was closely related to the COVID-19 virus. After the verbal attack, the man went ahead to kick the Asian and fell him down then fled. The police have been investigating several cases of attacks targeting the Asian. The attacks which range from physical, oral, or a combination of the two, have increased since the outbreak of COVID-19 virus. In this case, the Asians have become the biggest victims of racial abuse. Coincidentally, the attacks have increased since the virus spread out of China. The outbreak of COVID-19 has therefore contributed to an increase in both physical and verbal abuse on people of Asian descent.
Psychologists argue that the scapegoat theory is a leading contributor to the increase in Attacks against the Asians around the world. The scapegoat theory argues that the minority or the weak people in society bear the responsibility of other people’s poor choices in life. For instance, although COVID-19 is still spread by other people, the Asians are treated as the main cause of infections in the US. As a result, the locals abuse them verbally and physically, making it hard for them to justify their carelessness in terms of spreading the virus. Since Asian Americans are part of the minority race in the US, they bear the weight of blame, which often results in abuse and violence. Most Asian Americans are presumed to come from China, which is believed to be the origin of the virus. American citizens of Asian descent have also been suffering from racial discrimination.
The Role Theory has also been attributed to the increasing levels of racial discrimination. According to the psychologist, the attackers argue that the Chinese should have played their role to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As a result of the accusations, other races have been discriminating the Asian Americans from accessing crucial services. Besides, Asian Americans do not get the opportunity to interact with other people since they are seen to be irresponsible in their roles. According to the psychologists, the people who discriminate against the Asians would not like it if the roles were changed; they would not have preferred the same treatment. Therefore, discrimination against Asian Americans due to COVID-19 can be attributed to the Role theory in social psychology.
The third reason why people of Asian descent are getting discriminated against by others can be explained using the theory of Action Identification. Psychologists argue that the act of mistreating people of the Asian race is done rationally. It means that the bully knows that abusing other people is not the right thing; they do it intentionally. However, the person can control their behavior without undergoing therapy since they take action with a full