The Consequences of Medicalized Racism: From Anti-Mexican to Anti-Asian Sentiment
Colin McGregor and Joyce Hughes Mexican immigrants waiting to be disinfected on International Bridge in El Paso, Texas - 1917 Beginning in early 2020, the world was shaken and shut down by Covid-19, instilling the fear of disease at the forefront of everyone’s lives. However, for many, this pandemic not only endangered lives through the threat of infection but also by racist narratives that arose alongside the virus. Racism mobilized by political leaders towards Asians in connection to Covid-19 resulted in a huge spike in hate crimes. Unfortunately, this is not the first time we’ve seen this happen. In order to understand the events that put the lives of Asian people in danger, we can reflect on medicalized racism endured by Mexican immigrants during the early 1900s to see how…