A man stands in a nearly empty street during the Chinese New Year holiday in Beijing, China.
As you may know, the coronavirus has now become a global issue, with over 100 cases confirmed in 20 places other than China. Although no deaths have been reported outside of China, the rapid increase of about 32% of confirmed cases has sparked fear in countries all over the world. In mainland China, around 170 people have died out of 8,100 confirmed cases. To avoid the uncontrollable global spread, about 60 million citizens are under lockdown in Chinese cities such as Wuhan. Countries such as the UK, US, and Japan are attempting to get their citizens outside of these chinese cities safely. In response to the coronavirus, Countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, Canada, and the UK have been spreading racism towards their own citizens (chinese). Restaurants in South Korea and Japan for example, have attached posters to their windows saying “No Chinese allowed.” Rather than excluding victims of the coronavirus, these restaurants are straight out excluding a whole race. A student in England affected by the unfair racism in his country responded, “This week, my ethnicity has made me feel like I was part of a threatening and diseased mass. To see me as someone who carries the virus just because of my race is, well, just racist.” This racist backlash is not only affecting Asians as individuals, but also hurting chinese businesses around the world.
Personally, I think if racism caused this outbreak spreads towards Asian-Americans in the US, it would be a violation of the 14th amendment, which protects the civil rights and equality of all citizens of the US. I am already seeing signs of public discrimination in social media platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok. But the coronavirus should not be seen as an opportunity to be racist against asians, especially if they are American citizens. I feel that the risk of the chinese (outside of China) catching the coronavirus is the same as a person of any other race. So there is no reason why chinese people should be alienated and singled out. How do you think officials in the UK, Canada...etc. should respond to the racist backlash going on in their countries? How should we prevent this scenario coming to the US? Any other thoughts on this Article?
5 comments:
I think, as you mentioned above, it would be good to remember that this virus may have started with the Chinese population but can be spread to anyone so it is important to remember that people can restrict others who have the coronavirus but should not be doing that to a race. I think these other countries and the US (hopefully this racism will not happen here) will have businesses be called out if they discriminate. It's good that people are being more aware of this discrimination on social media, but action through cooperate regulations or Asian committees could bring this to their governments.
I believe that as the coronavirus begins to spread, these blatantly racist signs will begin to go down. The Chinese population accounts for the interest of too many foreign nations for this to ever become a long term thing. I think people are just panicking over how quickly the virus has spread. With more information and education on its potential impact, I believe this will allow things like the “No Chinese allowed” signs to decrease significantly. (also, by withholding the information about coronavirus till now, it makes sense that foreign nations would be weary about how the Chinese govt. Is handling things). It is certainly eye opening to see the repercussions of a sick China. I know companies like Apple are having to halt production in some factories which is certainly hurting their bottom line. The CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) also ended their season due to the virus. Unfortunately, countries in Europe are also taking a hit, as tourism particularly by Chinese citizens, makes up a significant percentage of their income coming in.
It is a valid concern to worry about your health and the safety of others but there has a be healthy dose of reality integrated into your mindset. It is true that coronavirus is found in China and originated in China but for Chinese Americans in the US for example, the majority of us do not have exposure to the mainland cities that have been affected by coronavirus so the racism shown toward all Chinese looking people is just not right. That does not mean that you cannot worry about your safety and health but it seems like an overreaction at the moment and an excuse to show more racism. While I hope for a better reaction by humanity, but racism is almost impossible to get rid of, so all that can be done is to have the virus contained and a vaccine to be developed to help the people who have been affected and to prevent others from being hurt. With the end of coronavirus, the racism should subside with it. So, countries should do what they can and people should cooperate in quarantining themselves and being cautious of being infected if they have exposure to the virus or are possibly infected.
When people are scared, I think they often try to find someone to blame, and this case, unfortunately, Asian people and especially Chinese people have become the targets. But does this justify such blatant racism? Definitely not. It’s incredibly sad to see such a lack of empathy for those suffering from the coronavirus in Wuhan and so many people normalizing xenophobic and racist comments. Instead of assigning blame, we should be reaching out to help and standing in solidarity with those faced with such a scary situation. Like Cameron said, worrying about your health and safety is normal, but there are a million different ways to take care of and protect yourself without cutting down others.
Likewise, the virus has started from China, and over 90% of the cases have been people who were indeed Chinese. Because of this, I would understand why people would be racist towards the majority of the Chinese race even though only a small margin of the Chinese population contracted the virus. However, it does not justify for the outlandish amount of racism that has been presented throughout the media and just in general. I understand that many people are judging and making racist comments because they are scared and worried about contracting the disease, but being racist won't necessarily stop you from getting the virus. Personally, I believe that being racist would not help the current situation, but I would also avoid purchasing products specifically from Wuhan because I would personally fear of contracting some sort of virus, even though it is known for being airborne.
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