By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – As Illinois’ two U.S. senators convened a Zoom call to label this week’s Atlanta spa killing spree a hate crime, local U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) was quoted by CNN as making remarks that appear ill-timed at best and racist at worst.
“I’m going to be calling Rodney Davis to talk to him about his claiming to say that calling coronavirus ‘the China virus’ or ‘the Chinese virus’ or ‘kung flu’ is not racist,” said U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), herself Asian-American / Pacific Islander. “It is racist. It does not help, and it really unfairly puts a bull’s-eye on the backs of Asian-Americans all across the country.”
Six of the eight Atlanta victims were Asian-American. And growing up Asian-American is not easy or fun, to hear Josina Morita tell it.
“We have seen a long history of anti-Asian racism in this country,” said Morita, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioner. “I am Chinese- and Japanese-American. My family has been directly impacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Japanese-American internment. We experience this every day. I’ve been ‘ching-chonged,’ questioned about my English, questioned about where I come from.”
State Rep. Theresa Mah (D-Chicago), who rose on the House floor Thursday to pay tribute to the victims, said AAPI is an “invisible” minority – and it’s time for that to stop.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].
