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

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4
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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.” 

