In a forthcoming interview with BuzzFeed, Jeannie Mai, cohost of the Emmy- and NAACP Image Award–winning daytime talk show The Real, spoke out about racism in black and Asian communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
"There's something bigger going on right now that's really important to me. And that's the conversation of racism," Jeannie, who is Vietnamese and Chinese, told BuzzFeed.
"Let's be honest: Right now, there are two areas that have been highlighted during quarantine: the ongoing fight for the black community and the Asian community, which also has been dealing with a lot of backlash because of the terminology that we're using around coronavirus and where it's come from," she continued.
"The most recent occurrence [of racism] with Ahmaud Arbery obviously got our attention and was absolutely deplorable, but it's also the fact that the black community and the brown community are getting hit more than ever during this time; economically and socially, it's been terrible for them," Jeannie said.
"This is a time where I really ask people to take an introspective look on what they are doing to help put an end to the racism in their conversations, in their homes, in their ideologies, and in their communities," she continued.
"How are we putting a stop to it? Because no matter who racism attacks, it affects every single one of us. That's the one thing I don't think that we all understand. When something happens to our brothers in the black and brown community, that is happening to us," Jeannie added.
"I would like all of my nonblack friends to understand that racism affects us all. This time, we need to not only stand up for our brothers and sisters of other colors, but we need to protect them and speak out for them and take action as if it were our own blood. That is the only way we will win," she said.
"Take whatever action you can to make sure that justice prevails, and have conversations with other people about what you read and how you feel," Jeannie urged.
"If you're scared, if you're uncomfortable, talk about this," she said. "Call somebody else who is also open to these discussions and is looking for a way to understand and to feel what's going on."
She continued: "The most important thing is, if you can scroll past the images and stories of people being attacked for hate crimes taking place, and you just kind of shake your head like, 'Oh, man, that sucks,' or if you have an overreaction and it keeps going up, something is wrong with that area of your thinking — if you're not allowed to process it, and really feel what's going on."
"It's a situation that feels helpless. And it feels confusing because it is wrong," she explained.
"So don't just scroll past these images; actually take a moment to process it. ... Face the discomfort and actually feel the emotion, because that is truly when you understand the fight that these communities have to go through."
Jeannie concluded: "We need to protect one another. When you ignore it and don't actually absorb the feeling, it's much harder to actually understand why they need our support."
We, and our partners, use technologies to process personal information, including IP addresses, pseudonymous identifiers associated with cookies, and in some cases mobile ad IDs. This information is processed to personalize content based on your interests, run and optimize marketing campaigns, measure the performance of ads and content, and derive insights about the audiences who engage with ads and content. This data is an integral part of how we operate our site, make revenue to support our staff, and generate relevant content for our audience. You can learn more about our data collection and use practices in our Privacy Policy.
If you wish to request that your personal information is not shared with third parties, please click on the below opt out button. Please note that after your opt out request is processed, we may still collect your information in order to operate our site.
We value your privacy
We and our partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology across the web. You can change your mind and change your consent choices at anytime by returning to this site.
BuzzFeed
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
Third-party vendors
Information storage and access
The storage of information, or access to information that is already stored, on your device such as advertising identifiers, device identifiers, cookies, and similar technologies.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
The Rubicon Project, Limited
Index Exchange, Inc.
comScore, Inc.
DoubleVerify Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Taboola Europe Limited
PubMatic, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Personalisation
The collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as on other websites or apps, over time. Typically, the content of the site or app is used to make inferences about your interests, which inform future selection of advertising and/or content.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
EMX Digital LLC
Nielsen Marketing Cloud
Google (DFP / AdX)
Ad selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad or making a purchase. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise advertising and/or content for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
OpenX Software Ltd. and its affiliates
LiveRamp, Inc.
Outbrain UK Ltd
Google (DFP / AdX)
Content selection, delivery, reporting
The collection of information, and combination with previously collected information, to select and deliver content for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such content. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select content, processing data about what content was shown, how often or how long it was shown, when and where it was shown, and whether the you took any action related to the content, including for example clicking on content. This does not include personalisation, which is the collection and processing of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, such as websites or apps, over time.
View CompaniesHide Companies
Company
Lotame Solutions, Inc.
LiveRamp, Inc.
Google (DFP / AdX)
Measurement
The collection of information about your use of the content, and combination with previously collected information, used to measure, understand, and report on your usage of the service. This does not include personalisation, the collection of information about your use of this service to subsequently personalise content and/or advertising for you in other contexts, i.e. on other service, such as websites or apps, over time.
{{ blurb }}
{{/blurb}} {{#picture_url}}