This audio piece this was inspired by Trump calling Covid-19 a "Chinese virus." There has been a lot of debate about this online, and I created this audio to express my own opinion. Indeed he is right, it came from China, therefore it is a Chinese virus. However, when there is already a scientific name to it, why label it as Chinese, especially with all the racism happening lately? Some say it's to not confuse it with other coronaviruses -- then he could simply call it Covid-19, there would be no misunderstandings. Some also say that this is no different than calling the Spanish Flu -- however I believe we have evolved since 1918 and we don't need to compare with the past when we can do better in the present. The words Trump uses encourage racism and xenophobia that are already rising. People are putting the blame on any Asian-looking people, but the truth is the population has nothing to do with it: it's about the Chinese government, not the Chinese people, and even less the Chinese-American people. Trump's negative connotation only brings more fear, hatred, and violence in times where we should unite, fight, and support each other.

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I used found footage audios from 7 videos on YouTube, and converted them to mp3 using YTMP3. Then, in Premiere Pro, I edited them individually. In each audio, the racism-related parts that I wanted to keep was separated from the rest. I kept the rest and lowered it to -21,5 dB so that it can only be heard as background noise behind the racism-related parts. Then, I moved some tracks around to make everything around 2mins long, and I ended up with 4 tracks playing simultaneously (which is better, because with 7 tracks it was starting to become incomprehensible). I wanted to have them play all at the same time and overlap because I want the audience to feel the overwhelming pressure and attacks coming from all directions without stopping, which is what an Asian might experience when going out in public and being harassed by many people. There are often 2 main voices talking at the same time (not counting the background -21,5 dB voices) so the audience can choose which voice to listen to if they pay attention, but no matter which one they choose, it is saying something hurtful and xenophobic. I chose to make this without videos because I want the audience to really focus on the phrases being said, without any visual distraction.

 

Media form: audio

Inspiration: anti-Asian racism

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJNCSMGCsNM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr_jktYx9G8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ98ewpzMDI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ccbJcqlUo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JZuz-f5OqY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_IyTxRNUYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7dDSyEtGTU

Tools: YouTube footage + YTMP3 + Premiere Pro