![]() Many Asian immigrants to the United States achieved economic success using this model by starting businesses such as laundromats and ethnic restaurants 12. Historically, marginalized groups have responded to the challenges of labour discrimination by starting their own businesses providing unique goods and services. In this Article, we examine a closely related but much less studied economic phenomenon-consumer discrimination against businesses, especially small businesses associated with Asian Americans, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as some forms of discrimination have decreased over the recent decades 9, racial discrimination in labour markets remains stubbornly persistent 10, 11. These forms of discrimination have substantial negative effects on communities of colour, denying social mobility to historically marginalized groups 7, 8. ![]() Scholars have long documented patterns of labour discrimination against people of colour in the United States 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Our findings are consistent with the roles of collective blame, out-group homogeneity and ethnic misidentification in explaining how anti-China rhetoric can harm the Asian American community, underlining the importance of avoiding racism and stigmatization in political and public health communications. Using a series of surveys, online search trends and consumer traffic data, we find that Asian restaurants experienced an 18.4% decrease in traffic (estimated US$7.42 billion lost revenue in 2020) relative to comparable non-Asian restaurants, with greater decreases in areas with higher levels of support for Donald Trump. Here we examine this in the context of restaurants-ubiquitous small businesses that sell goods that are closely entwined with ethnicity. However, it is less clear how subtle patterns of consumer discrimination, which are difficult to directly observe yet greatly impact Asian American livelihoods, changed through the pandemic. Anti-Chinese sentiment increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting as a considerable spike in overt violence and hatred directed at Asian American individuals. ![]()
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