“I am Asian and my husband is white; we are both pretty liberal. As a couple, we’ve always discussed the differences in our family dynamics, but as time went on, we started having more difficult conversations about what it means to be in an interracial relationship and how to navigate each other’s issues (racism, privilege, etc). However, my husband’s family is very conservative — they are Fox News enthusiasts. During dinner one night, at the height of COVID and with the rise of Asian hate crimes happening all around the country, my father-in-law referred to COVID as the “China flu” and kept pushing the conspiracy that COVID was created in “a Chinese lab.” I stopped the conversation, said I found the sentiment hurtful, and pleaded with my father-in-law to stop calling it that. For one, it’s not a flu and, two, because he’s perpetuating further Asian hate and that language is fueling anti-Asian hate crimes across the country. I explained to him that I worried about my parents’ safety daily because of hate perpetuated by using language like this against Asian Americans. He vowed never to use the word again, but honestly my relationship with them has never been the same ever since.
