In today’s Big Story podcast, in Canada, the coronavirus is not a deadly threat. But lots of people are suffering anyway. The spectre of a respiratory illness from China has brought back both the fear sparked by SARS in 2003 and the racism and stereotypes that accompanied it.
From stock photos of Chinese restaurants used to illustrate stories on the local impact, to supposedly “funny” jokes about the names of noodle shops and other businesses, and the more overt instances of hate speech and harassment, Asian Canadians are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus’s impact in Canada at the same time that some of them are also fearing for friends and family back home.
GUEST: Evelyn Kwong, Toronto Star
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