Words matter.
Immigrants have been an essential part of American culture since our beginning. And throughout our history, references to immigrants have been intentionally framed to stigmatize and dehumanize them. This is particularly the case with immigrants who are Black and brown, from Asia and the Global South.
Inflammatory rhetoric has recently included terms like “predators,” “savages,” “animals,” “invasion,” and “criminals.” These are not a reflection of reality. They deploy inaccurate stereotypes and biases to fuel a nativist narrative intended to marginalize, exclude and erase fellow human beings.
Why would some repeatedly distort that reality, and why might some be inclined to believe them? Why do people who may have legitimate political grievances often end up directing their anger at relatively harmless victims when they are presented with these as scapegoats?
As the late French theorist of mythology René Girard explained, the target is not chosen because it is most responsible for society’s woes. (If some members of the target do happen to be at all responsible, it’s anecdotal at best and hardly representative of the group.)
Scapegoats are instead chosen because they’re relatively voiceless and viewed as easy to victimize without fear of retaliation. Scapegoating preys on existing racial and ethnic biases, tries to create fear, and is intended to deflect rather than take responsibility for solutions to those grievances.
Language intended to reinforce stereotypes has consequences. When it is violent, it leads to violence. We saw this during the COVID-19 pandemic when it was referenced as the “China virus.” The consequence was a dramatic increase in hate crimes directed at people who are Asian and/or perceived to be of Asian heritage. It harmed Asian-owned businesses: Asian-owned restaurants and stores were the first to experience declining revenue, even though most of the earliest cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. came from Europe.
Media portrayal can advance stereotypes further, with or without intention. Yet the impact is great, and it has nefarious consequences. The perfect examples is the recent local coverage of illicit massage parlors suspected of trafficking young Asian women and children sometimes referred to them as “Asian parlors.” Most of these parlors appear to have white owners/white landlords. They do not practice any legitimate and valuable form of Chinese medicine or other healing practice. If they’re being marketed by the owners as Asian, that’s another level of exploitation, done to appeal to gendered racialized stereotypes that exacerbate the abuse of Asian women.
Using the term “Asian” when referencing the women who may be forced to work there, instead of as a description of the businesses themselves, would highlight their marginalized identity. They are victimized by and are survivors of horrendous human trafficking, wage theft and sex trafficking crimes. The business is not Asian, it is illicit. How the business is described is important in keeping the focus on the owners and the patrons, the ones responsible for the suffering of survivors of human trafficking.
We can all dismantle stereotypes and disrupt language that perpetuates xenophobia and racism. We can listen for language that is intended to inflame us rather than inform us, check our assumptions and examine what biases and fears may be driving our responses. We can listen and amplify the voices of immigrants and other people of color to hear their truth. We can reach out and ask the media and policymakers and others to use language that dispels rather than perpetuates stereotypes and harm. Words matter, and every conversation counts.
This article appears in Opioid overdoses increase.
