CNN's Kyung Lah describes her experience with anti-Asian racism while reporting on coronavirus
Published
Citation From the March 20, 2020, edition of CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper
JAKE TAPPER (ANCHOR): We've been hearing about these horrific incidences of anti-Asian discrimination, racism, xenophobia because of the coronavirus, because it originated in China. And you and I talked about this. You said it was OK for me to bring it up. You had an unsettling encounter today while out reporting on this story.
KYUNG LAH (CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT): Yeah, I don't think -- I think it's been since elementary school that I haven't heard it directly to my face. It's something that you see on social media frequently, especially if you're an Asian-American reporting on controversial, or even noncontroversial news items. And so we were standing there preparing for live shots this morning, just hours ago, and a man walked up and used a racial slur, slung it right at me, and I was so surprised and taken aback and that I asked him to repeat it because I couldn't believe it. So it is something that is happening. And what I find most surprising is that it's happening in front of our faces, directly at people. That is something that I have not experienced in a very, very long time in this country.
TAPPER: I'm so sorry you experienced that, and I would just like to note that if you are stupid and racist enough to be holding random individuals of Asian descent responsible for a pandemic then you should be self-quarantining from society any way. So that's what I have to say to that idiot.