Viruses do not discriminate.
- Jodi-Ann A. Richards
- Mar 29, 2020
- 3 min read
Racism against East Asians and Xenophobia
Since the Coronavirus has become popular in world news, there are reports of discrimination against Chinese persons and East Asians generally. First of all, it is important to respect what makes the Chinese different from other East Asians, which incorporates their languages. Racism and discrimination against Chinese people are increasing because the Coronavirus originated in China. However, consistent with the World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the number of new cases of the virus in Iran, Italy, and South Korea are cause for concern ("Coronavirus: World", 2020). Coronavirus is now a pandemic.
Some persons from the Chinese community think that the Coronavirus is merely revealing the hidden racism that was already there. The xenophobia (dislike of or prejudice towards people from other countries) is showing against the Chinese community. Remarks such as 'Chinese virus' and 'Kung Flu' will only contribute to this problem.
The global economy gets a hit
The existence of this virus is a reminder that the public needs to stay knowledgeable about viruses and global news because of how quickly viruses can spread. It is already clear that the worldwide economy has taken a hit because of the virus. Cruise ships, hotels, and airlines are losing business because people are afraid to travel to affected countries. It is predicted that the economy might not fully recover until 2023 (Pham, 2020). Overall, there has been a shift in the news to cases outside of China and corporations in all types of industries are being affected (Rabouin, 2020).
Viruses and understanding countries
It is thought that the virus originated in wet markets in mainland China. The Coronavirus has been assessed as a zoonosis, which means it can transfer from animals to humans. The mix of live and dead animals with low standards for regulation of wet markets and illegal trade of wildlife is contributing to this present problem. The Chinese government has taken efforts to ban wildlife markets and close down wet markets that have been linked to the outbreak (Woodward, 2020).
I think that the simplest way to help minimize or eliminate viruses such as Coronavirus and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) spreading from one country to another is to have a comprehensive understanding of the political, economic, historical and cultural makeup of the country of origin.
Time to stop the racism and ignorance
The emergence of Coronavirus has been giving China a bad reputation around the world. However, I would say that we should not stereotype or discriminate because of this. Many people may not know that China is home to some of the healthiest meals in the world. In addition, there are parts of China that serve high-quality food in clean conditions. Watch the video below as Chinese persons speak out against racism, and please share this article on your social media profiles to raise awareness about racism and discrimination against Chinese and East Asian people.
References
Coronavirus: world must prepare for pandemic, says WHO. (2020, February 25). BBC.
Pham, Sherisse. (2020, February 28). The coronavirus has grounded Chinese tourists. The
global travel industry may not recover for years. CNN Business.
Rabouin, Dion. (2020, February 24). Coronavirus shakes the global economy. Axios.
Woodward, Aylin. (2020, February 26). Both the new coronavirus and SARS outbreaks likely
started in Chinese wet markets. Photos show what the markets look like. Business Insider.
Cover photo courtesy of : Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/nastya_gepp-3773230/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4392163">Anastasia Gepp</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=4392163">Pixabay</a>
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