‘An epidemic of hate’: Asian-American starts anti-racism campaign to counter abuse over coronavirus

TV producer Valerie Chow launched her Be Cool 2 Asians campaign to push back against fellow Americans who blame Asians for the coronavirus pandemic

While planning the video campaign highlighting Asian-Americans’ place in US society and on Covid-19 front lines, she was attacked and told ‘go back to China’

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US TV producer Valerie Chow is behind the Be Cool 2 Asians campaign, designed to eradicate harmful notions that Asians should be blamed for the coronavirus pandemic. While planning the campaign she was attacked walking her dog on a street in Los Angeles and told “go back to China”.

Published: 7:30am, 11 Apr 2020Updated: 4:48pm, 12 Apr 2020

Valerie Chow, a television producer in Los Angeles, had just started planning a series of videos to address Covid-19-related anti-Asian sentiment in the United States when she experienced it first-hand.

“I was out walking my dog when a homeless man started yelling at me, ‘nasty b****, go back to China’, throwing punches and trying to kick my dog,” recalls Chow, who has produced unscripted shows for Netflix and the Food Network.

“I ran back towards my building but he chased me, still screaming. It was like that cliché in every murder scene where the victim’s hand is trembling, and she drops her keys. That was me in that moment.”

The incident further galvanised Chow, who subsequently launched her Be Cool 2 Asians campaign, designed to eradicate harmful notions that Asians should be blamed for the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of the Asian American Commission hold a press conference on the steps of the Massachusetts State House to condemn racism towards the Asian-American community because of the coronavirus on March 12 in Boston. Photo: Getty Images

“I had been hearing anecdotally that there was a rise in anti-Asian sentiment,” says Chow. “It started with [US President Donald] Trump calling it the China virus, and escalated from there. It’s now an epidemic of hate.”