uncleanliness

More than a decade ago, a City Hall report about the state of litter and illegal dumping warned that some neighborhoods were in a “constant state of uncleanliness.”

This week we learn about the concept of marimé, a spiritual uncleanliness.

And what better symbol of impurity and uncleanliness and contamination than a bathroom?

Other allegations, ranging from cracked, leaking ceilings to general uncleanliness, mirrored the findings of a 2011 Department of Justice investigation that contributed to the ongoing federal oversight of the county’s detention system.

This racist association between Asian Americans and illness and uncleanliness has also affected views of Asian food and contributes to the “perpetual foreigner” trope that suggests Asian people are fundamentally outsiders.