Monday Spotlight, ADVISORY

EDITORS:

The following story will move Sunday as this week's Monday Spotlight, a feature showcasing the best off-the-news enterprise in the AP report:

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIAN FOOD

LOS ANGELES -- Bigotry toward Asian Americans and Asian food has spread steadily alongside the coronavirus in the United States. Distorted information about the virus, which first appeared in China, has led to a revival of century-old tropes about Asian food being dirty. Social media has been flooded with racist memes portraying Chinese people as bat eaters responsible for spreading COVID-19. A coalition of advocacy groups said earlier this month that it had received more than 2,500 reports of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans across the country since March. In addition, Asian American businesses across the country have been among those hardest hit by the economic downtown resulting from the pandemic. By Christine Fernando and Cheyanne Murphrey. UPCOMING: 980 words, photos.

—The AP