Chinese, Chinese-Americans, & Asians are being seen as carriers of Coronavirus. However, COVID-19 is affecting all of us. It does not matter your nationality, race, religion, age, profession, or income.⠀
Unfortunately, when we label it as a “Chinese Virus” a has a negative connotation & people take it out on Chinese & Asian individuals. Even those that are not Chinese or those who never been to China are often identified as being associated with the virus & physically attacked.⠀
Roger Keil, a professor at York University, studied the impact of SARS on the city of Toronto. He noted how neither H1N1, which emerged in North America, nor mad cow disease, which mostly affected the UK, generated a racial or ethnic backlash of this magnitude. However, diseases like SARS and coronavirus that first impacted China or Ebola which erupted in Africa consistently correlate with xenophobia.
Professor Keil noted:
“With this new virus, something was triggered that is always latently there, under the surface, which is this fear of the other and the idea that bad things come from elsewhere.”
Such xenophobias echo even older prejudices too. In the 19th century, Europeans feared what they called the “Yellow Peril” brought about by “primitive” people with emerging global power. In the US, there was a specific notion that Asian people carried disease.
As a discrimination attorney with Korean & Chinese family members, these ignorant words really infuriate me. It’s words like these that put innocent people at risk of hate crimes, harassment, & discrimination… both on the street & in the workplace.⠀
Words matter. I encourage everyone to correct and oppose people that talk this way. Doing so can stop the ignorance and hate. Spread love, not hate. And every morning when you get up: wash your hands and don’t be racist.
