Beacon of human rights dims in US: China Daily editorial

The shootings in Atlanta on Tuesday have sparked a public outcry condemning the violence against Asian Americans in the United States, with massive protests taking place in many US cities.

Local police arrested a 21-year-old white man from Georgia for the shooting incidents at three massage parlors in the Atlanta metropolitan area, which killed eight people, six Asians and two whites.

Meanwhile, a video showing an elderly Chinese woman, with one eye bleeding after being punched in the face, fearlessly fighting back against the burly middle-aged white man who attacked her on the street in San Francisco, has gone viral online.

These incidents have highlighted a grim reality: The US, the self-claimed champion of human rights, is, in fact, a dungeon of hate crimes and racial discrimination.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, media reports and opinion polls in the US have revealed a rising number of crimes against Asians in the US. According to a report issued by the Stop Asian American Pacific Islander Hate, a coalition of Asian American and Pacific Islander groups, Asian Americans in the US have reported nearly 3,800 hate-related incidents in less than a year.

The report shows the types of discrimination range from verbal harassment and physical assaults, to online harassment and civil rights violations.

While the death of African American George Floyd last year and the subsequent mass protests exposed the US' protracted, systematic and serious racial discrimination, the rising number of attacks on Asian Americans should draw equal attention and serious soul-searching in US society.

Admittedly, racial inequality has long plagued the US and tarnished its reputation as a "melting pot" of different immigrant groups. But, the rise of white supremacist ideologies in recent years and irresponsible US politicians who have used the pandemic to spread biased sentiments have fanned the flames of racial discrimination in the US.

Former US president Donald Trump and members of his administration repeatedly referred to the novel coronavirus as the "China virus" and "Wuhan virus" in a bid to deflect public criticism over their woeful handling of the pandemic, and this fueled hatred against Asian Americans.

With its own house in a mess, the US out of arrogance and hypocrisy, has continued to apply a double standard in the world pointing an accusing finger at other countries' human rights and democracy.

Before accusing others of abusing human rights, it should get its own house in order.

Hence, the onus is on the current US administration to cultivate a harmonious social atmosphere in the US where the rights of people from different backgrounds are equally protected.