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U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

author:Observer.com

In recent months, there have been frequent incidents of violence against Asian-American groups in the United States. Although the voices denouncing justice have not stopped, they have increasingly appeared to be just moving their lips. In particular, the mainstream media in the United States seem to be even moving their lips.

On Feb. 14, Grace Lee, an Asian-American social activist, traveled to Manhattan's Manhattan Chinatown in New York City for a vigil and was interviewed by ABC to oppose racial violence against Asians. Last Sunday (13th), the body of an Asian woman was found in her apartment with more than 40 knife wounds.

Ironically, Lee was shocked to find that in the ABC news program that aired that day, his name was mistakenly marked as "Michelle Go" — another Asian-American woman in New York City who died last month who was pushed off the platform.

As of now, the ABC has not responded to the matter. Some Asian netizens helplessly said on Twitter that they have become accustomed to this, and the US media do not care about Asians at all, and will not bother to treat Asians as independent individuals.

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

Tweet screenshots

"My name is Grace Lee, a social activist. Michelle Go, another Asian-American woman, was brutally murdered last month. I was on a vigil for Christina Yuna Lee, another Asian victim. ”

On February 15, Lee Wing-eun, who found the error, tweeted @ABC to introduce himself and the two Asian women who were killed.

She concluded with an angry rebuke of ABC News: "Your mistakes are extremely hurtful and will further invisibilizes Asian women." The tweet against ABC has been retweeted by more than 2,500 people and liked by more than 14,000 people.

Last Sunday (13th), after receiving the alarm, the local police in New York City went to an apartment in Chinatown in lower Manhattan, and then found the body of an Asian woman with more than 40 knife wounds. The victim, Christina Yeon-nêl Lee, was a 36-year-old creative producer for an online music platform.

New York police said the 25-year-old suspect, Assamad Nash, was caught on the spot and charged with first-degree murder, burglary and other charges, and faced a maximum sentence of 25 to life in prison. At present, the police have not determined whether the incident is a racial hate crime.

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

Christina Yeon-young Lee (left) brutally murdered by suspects, from The New York Post

According to Nextshark, a news website focusing on Asian descent in the United States, on February 16, Grace Lee traveled to Manhattan's Chinatown in New York City to participate in Christina Yeon-er Lee's vigil and accepted an interview with ABC News.

Lee told ABC that Nash's arrest did not reduce fears among the Asian-American community. "It doesn't diminish the fear we feel as Asians, especially as Asian women."

As of now, the ABC has not responded to the matter, and it is unclear how the error was made and who is responsible. The low-level mistake of ABC is undoubtedly "adding fuel to the fire" for the Asian American community who are afraid of a series of recent attacks.

In the comment area of Lee Wing-eun's tweet, a netizen helplessly said: "[This mistake] is too typical." These media outlets think we have substitutions, often mistake one Asian woman for another, and they don't bother to distinguish between us as individuals. ”

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

There are also many netizens who believe that ABC did not make mistakes, but "deliberately" committed racist acts.

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

"If the media can correctly identify Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Chris Hemsworth (all Hollywood male stars), they should do a better job of covering East Asian female murders and vigils." The tweet was subsequently retweeted by Lee Young-eun.

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

In addition, the incident attracted the attention of U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, a Chinese-American Democrat, and Evelyn Yang, the wife of former U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang.

U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder
U.S. Media Face Blindness: Reporting on Asian Murders, But Mislabeling Interviewees as "Victims" of the Previous Murder

During the epidemic in 2020, former US President Trump, in order to cover up the government's ineffective fight against the epidemic, frequently dumped the pot in China, calling the new crown virus the "Chinese virus". At the same time, the hatred incidents against Asians in the United States in 2020 have exploded compared with previous years.

A report released by California State University in March showed that overall hate crime cases in the U.S. fell 7 percent in 2020 from 2019, while hate crimes against Asians surged 149 percent. The survey report counted hate crime data from 16 U.S. city police departments. Among them, the situation in New York City was the most serious, surging by 833%.

New York City's Census data for August showed that the city's Asian population has increased by more than 435,000 people since 2010, accounting for 15.6 percent of the total population, and more than half of the city's total population growth over the past decade.

On January 27 last year, recently inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden signed a memorandum directing federal agencies to combat xenophobia against Communities of Asian Pacific descent. On January 4, the new mayor of New York made a special trip to Chinatown to call on Biden to apologize to the Chinese for Trump's hype of the "Chinese virus". However, the "nightmare" of the Asian community in New York City is still not over.

In January, New York City police confirmed that Ma Yaopan, a 61-year-old Chinese man who had been brutally attacked, had died in hospital;

On January 15, Michelle Go, a Chinese woman, was pushed off the platform by a homeless man while waiting for a train on the New York subway, and unfortunately died;

On February 9, a South Korean diplomat was hospitalized with a broken nose after an unprovoked attack in Manhattan, New York;

On February 13, An Asian woman Christine Yeon-eun Lee was brutally murdered and her body was found in her home...

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