Polarization around the Wolrd
Storyboard Text
- Leader of the US
- The US will support...[those] affected by the CHINESE VIRUS
- Resulting Divisions
- CHINESE VIRUS
- Authentic Chinese Food
- Leader of India
- Trump tweeted in March 2020, around the time when the pandemic really began changing life for people in the US, that he was in support of those struggling from the Chinese Virus. Although his message was one of supposed unity--for those who had lost business--by calling it the "Chinese" virus he sparked disunity and racism against Asian Americans. This lead to yet more divisions in the US, where rather than coming together in adversity, people were split apart.
- Leader of India
- "Hindu 'khatere me hein' (are in danger)." We will give back the land in Assam.
- Hindu land! No more Muslims here!
- Following the tweet, there was a spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans. Property was damaged, Asian Americans faced physical violence, and many businesses lost costumers. Rather than supporting Americans suffering from the pandemic, the hate hurt these people even more. Suddenly, the virus was being blamed on a group of people unfairly. The stressor of the pandemic revealed the hidden bigotry in the country.
- Resulting Division
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- After passing the Citizenship act in 2019 that created a path for certain illegal immigrants to become citizens unless they were Muslim, more recently, Modi's government authorized the forced eviction of 5,000 Muslim families. In his 3rd term as prime minister, Modi has continued to increase the divide between the two groups, using Indian Muslims as scapegoats for rising unemployment and poverty..and to some extent the spread of COVID.
- Riots between groups of Hindus and Muslims are not new, but they have worsened under Modi's rule (after a period in which peace seemed possible). The Citizenship act sparked many protests. The scene here is depicting the protests of the forced eviction in Assam. Police intervention resulted in the death of a 12-year-old boy. Homes were destroyed, families were torn apart, and lives were forever changed.
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