Recently, I’ve been hearing late-night talk show hosts, co-workers and other journalists talk about how the coronavirus discriminates against no one. At least, these folks say, COVID-19 has brought out our community spirit.

I find myself shaking my head. As the critical race editor at The Conversation Canada, I’m often the sister killjoy in the room.

The unity is true in some places: people dance on their balconies in unison, students buy groceries for elderly neighbours and residents bang pots together at 7 p.m. to show support for health-care workers. But has the virus actually erased any inequities or has it highlighted them?

Asian Americans reported more than 650 incidents of discrimination last week. In Canada, what started off as racist tweets against Asians in January has turned into violence with a recent stabbing in Montréal.

Today in The Conversation Canada, Paula Larssen, a Canadian at the University of Oxford, unpacks the long history of racism against Asian communities in North America. “History tells us this is not the first time that fear of disease has led to outbreaks of anti-Asian racism,” she writes. “Underlying prejudice against Asian communities has been a staple feature … of North American society since the 19th century.”

Also today:

• How medieval writers struggled to make sense of the Black Death
• Steve Martin’s banjo shows how the arts connect us during coronavirus isolation
• Coronavirus has dimmed the lights on live entertainment. What now for event managers?
• Businesses step up to make the products we need to get through the coronavirus pandemic

Stay up-to-date with coverage of coronavirus across The Conversation network with our latest weekly update.

All the best.