Asian caucus urges fellow lawmakers not to ‘perpetuate racist stereotypes’ amid coronavirus fears

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus on Wednesday warned fellow lawmakers against contributing to “discriminatory rhetoric” against Asian Americans due to fears over the coronavirus. 

In a letter distributed Wednesday, members of the caucus implored colleagues to “help us prevent hysteria, ignorant attacks and racist assaults” resulting from misinformation about the coronavirus, which originated in China.

The letter comes after Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) recently suggested that the coronavirus could have been created in a laboratory in China and did not originate in a Wuhan seafood market as the Chinese government has stated.

Experts have pushed back on Cotton’s claims, but the Arkansas senator doubled down on questioning the origins of the virus.

“We don’t know where it originated, and we have to get to the bottom of that,” Cotton said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” “We also know that just a few miles away from that food market is China’s only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that researches human infectious diseases.”

Wednesday’s letter did not specifically mention Cotton, but it noted “some in Congress continue to push unfounded theories” about the coronavirus.

“As elected representatives, we have a responsibility during a public health crisis to use our unique platform to calm our constituents’ fears, not stoke them,” the lawmakers, led by caucus Chairwoman Judy Chu (D-Calif.), wrote.

“However, we have been disappointed and dismayed that some in Congress continue to push unfounded theories about the disease, including the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created in a lab in China,” they added.

They pointed to the effects on Asian Americans over the coronavirus fears, including two Hmong men who alleged that they faced discrimination while looking for a hotel room in Indiana and a 16-year-old boy in California who was physically attacked by fellow students who accused him of having the virus.

Businesses owned by Asian Americans, such as Chinese restaurants, have also reported a recent drop in customers.

“Even just looking Asian has been enough to incite attackers to hurl insults and accuse individuals of being disease carriers. With the proper guidance from members of Congress and other public officials, these kinds of attacks can be avoided,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The best way to stop the spread of the coronavirus is to wash your hands, not perpetuate racist stereotypes. We ask for your help in spreading this message, to help stem both the public health crisis and the deeply disturbing racism targeting the Asian American community,” they wrote.

The Trump administration earlier this week sent Congress a request for $2.5 billion to fund its response to the coronavirus, but lawmakers in both parties have indicated that they believe that isn’t enough money to address the outbreak.

As of Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus cases around the world had reached about 81,000 with more than 2,700 deaths.

The Trump administration has sent conflicting messages about the coronavirus in recent days, with health officials warning of an outbreak in U.S. communities while President Trump maintained Tuesday that the virus was “very well under control in our country.”

Trump is expected to hold a news conference Wednesday evening — after stock markets close — to discuss his administration’s handling of the coronavirus.

Trump in a morning tweet accused MSNBC and CNN of “doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible.”