michigandaily.com
Thursday, May 21, 2020
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 114
© 2020 The Michigan Daily
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS/NEWS..........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
A/PIA Leaders
Recognizing historical
AAPI figures who have
shaped modern America
for A/PIA heritage
month
>> SEE PAGE 8
NEWS
Autonomous robot
A startup by professors
uses technology to deliver
food and groceries.
>> SEE PAGE 3
OPINION
Millennials and milk
Looking into how the milk
industry will change for-
ever.
>> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
‘how i’m feeling now’
Charli XCX’s latest album is a
collaboration between artist
and audience, heralding new
music in the age of quarantine.
>> SEE PAGE 5
SPORTS
Community
Through service, Nadav
Aaronson finds out what
it means to be a part of a
team.
>> SEE PAGE 11
inside
2
4
6
8
10
During the early days of the
COVID-19
pandemic,
Mary
Rose, program manager in the
Office of Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion at the University of
Michigan, felt her uneasiness
grow about her public perception
as she took her son to their local
urgent care clinic.
“I
remember
purposely
wearing my Michigan t-shirt
underneath my big winter coat,”
Rose said. “As soon as I got
inside I unzipped it. I felt like
I had to consciously make an
effort to indicate that I was not a
recent immigrant, that I did not
just come here off a plane from
anywhere — I am a part of this
community.”
Rose
noted
her
thoughts
were fueled by social media
and reports of Asian Americans
being discriminated against and
said sometimes she hesitates to
go out by herself.
“I weigh in my mind, ‘Is there
a chance that I let my guard down
and I go out and somebody might
harass me, or do something, and
I might not be with my family?’”
Rose said.
Melissa
Borja,
assistant
professor of American culture,
said she sometimes gets nervous
about going outside, not only
because she does not want to
be infected, but also because
she is concerned about racial
harassment.
“It just struck me as this great
irony that in March and in April,
we were living in lockdown
situations and we were told ‘get
out’, ‘get some fresh air,’ ‘it’s
good for your mental health,
once a day just go for a walk,’”
Borja said. “But, it’s a very
stressful thing to ‘get out,’ ‘get
fresh air,’ ‘go on a walk,’ as an
Asian person, since Asian people
were getting spit on, were having
racist things yelled at them by
drivers passing by.”
According to the Center for
Disease Control, on Jan. 21,
2020, the first case of COVID-
19 was identified in the United
States.
In March, Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo referred to the
2019 novel coronavirus as the
“Wuhan virus” and President
Donald Trump called COVID-19
the “China virus.” CDC Director
Robert Redfield condemned the
use of such language, saying
it was “absolutely wrong and
inappropriate.”
As COVID-19 continued to
spread, the Los Angeles Times
reported a rise in hate crimes
toward Asian Americans from
February to April. The article
echoed an FBI warning of the
potential surge in hate crimes
against Asian Americans during
the pandemic. The warning
detailed an incident in Midland,
Texas, in which an Asian-
American family was stabbed
because the attacker “thought
the family was Chinese, and
infecting
people
with
the
coronavirus.”
Rose, Borja and many other
University community members
are taking action to combat the
rise in anti-Asian hate crimes
and to raise awareness of racist
and xenophobic acts.
In this article, the acronyms
AAPI (Asian Americans and
Pacific Islanders), A/PIA (Asian/
Pacific Islander American) and
APID/A (Asian Pacific Islander
Desi/Americans)
will
be
frequently used.
Documenting
hate
crimes
across the U.S.
After being established on
March 19, the STOP AAPI HATE
Reporting Center recieved 673
reports
of
COVID-19-related
discrimination in the United
States within the first week of
opening.
MI Gov. and
former VP
host virtual
roundtable
Joe Biden and Gretchen
Whitmer discuss
nationwide responses to
COVID-19 pandemic
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at michigandaily.com
SARAH PAYNE
Summer News Editor
FRANCESCA DUONG
Summer Managing News Editor
Read more at michigandaily.com
michigandaily.com
Disarming racism: community
members fight anti-Asian hate
Design by Francesca Duong
Joe Biden, former vice president and 2020
presidential candidate, hosted a virtual town
hall with three state governors and over
9,000 viewers to discuss state and national
responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden
was joined by Michigan Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and
Connecticut Gov. Edward Lamont to discuss
the response of the Trump administration,
the current condition of their respective
states and what the future would hold for the
nation Thursday afternoon.
Biden said local and state government
officials have been taking action to flatten
the curve and mitigate public fear during the
pandemic.
“There are a lot of scared people all across
the country and so often it’s all of you that
they are looking to,” Biden said. “This is not
a partisan statement. Governors, mayors,
local leaders, you’re all stepping up all across
the country — Republicans and Democrats
alike.”
Biden emphasized the importance of
opening the economy as quickly as possible
while listening to the recommendations of
public health experts.
“We are going to have to work harder
and smarter than ever before to pull
ourselves out of this economic tailspin,”
Biden said. “I know what all of you know,
that the only way out of this is following
science: Listening to the experts and taking
responsible precautions that are going to
help us reopen the economy as safely and as
quickly as possible. We have an opportunity,
in my view, to transform the economy as we
come out, to build a more inclusive and more
resilient middle class.”