Corona virus exposes racial ignorance
February 27, 2020
The disease that emerged in late December dubbed the “corona virus” has been dire not only to its infected victims, but also to those who are in perfect health. Unfortunately, the presence of the corona virus has exposed some racist and xenophobic associations with Asians in the United States and other countries around the world.
The corona virus first appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The virus is known to cause pneumonia, as well as other symptoms. Those who have fallen ill are reported to suffer from coughs, fever, breathing difficulties and in severe cases organ failure. With more than 560 corona-virus deaths, countries like Russia, Japan, Pakistan, Italy, United States, and Australia have closed off their borders, declining any passengers who have been to China since December. While keeping the possibly infected citizens out, other countries, such as Canada, where a young boy was cornered by students to test to see if he had the corona virus because he was “half Chinese”, are harboring a growing fear of Asian students.
Sadly this behavior includes our very own Tartan Senior High school. Here the news of the corona virus has sparked some ignorant comments towards Asian students– comments such as Chinese food being the cause of the virus. Further some Asian students have felt the need to suppress any coughs or wheezes, so as not to be seen as a threat or receive nasty glares from their classmates.
Some of these xenophobic feelings against Asians are rooted in history and seem eerily familiar to the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 and the Geary act of 1892. Not only did these Acts prevent Chinese immigrants from voting, but they paved the path that required people of Chinese origin to carry identification or face deportation. This lead to the permanent ban of all possible Chinese immigrants, all Chinese-Americans who had citizenship, and citizens who were married to a Chinese male.
Using the corona virus as an excuse to mask hateful views as fear towards a group of people is morally wrong. It’s one thing to be concerned, it’s another to use it as an excuse to be racist towards our fellow humans. Picking on others for things such as this does nothing to combat the problem of this disease. Instead of racist remarks, consider donating or supporting those attempting to do research on this virus.
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I agree with this! This virus outbreak is NOT an excuse to be racist towards Asians. I personally feel like there is not any excuse to be racist. No matter the reason. Myself being an Asian American. I feel fearful for me, my family and my kind as well. If anything, we are all just as afraid or cautious of the virus.
This article was very insightful and shows that we should strive be more aware of prejudices.
This is a great article. As an Asian American, I have certainly faced comments about having the virus.
It’s interesting to read about this side of the coronavirus: I wouldn’t have immediately thought about the racism that it sparked. While I do think that the racism is deplorable, I think it may be a bit of a stretch to compare it to the Chinese Exclusion Act. To me, that Act represents a more severe form of discrimination that shouldn’t be compared to casual racism, regardless of how disgusting that casual racism may be.
As COVID-19 has worsened, this prejudice has continued and even grown in intensity. Hopefully with the end of the coronavirus (whenever that may be), these racist actions and comments will end.
I agree with this article there is no reason for people to be racist towards other humans because of a virus.
I agree, this article brings up many good points and creates more awareness. It’s really cool to see!
The fact that people use the virus to mask hateful views and comments on each other is terrible, people should be more kind to others during this time instead of being against each other.