Chinese coronavirus triggered an outbreak of racism and xenophobia: what to do about it - ForumDaily
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Chinese coronavirus triggered an outbreak of racism and xenophobia: what to do about it

The coronavirus outbreak has catalyzed another epidemic - an outbreak of xenophobia and racism towards the Chinese and people from other Asian countries. Writes about this with the BBC.

Фото: Depositphotos

Harrassment, discrimination, and victimization (blaming the victim) against the Chinese and people in other Asian countries are visible to the naked eye. In social networks, popular treatment tips are spread, myths about the emergence of a new virus, and with them racism: from assumptions, that the virus “leaked” from a secret laboratory, to accusations that the “uncivilized” Chinese are to blame for everything their eating habitshygiene and everyday life.

Racism in social networks

“Horror, there are no words,” says in the caption under a video posted by animal rights activists on Instagram, in which an Asian girl eats centipedes. “I understand everything, it’s a different culture.” In Asia they eat everything that moves, and then they wonder where new forms of viruses come from!”

The video has tens of thousands of views, and under the post there are hundreds of comments like “this is not culture,” “these are not people, but primates,” “this is as disgusting as the Chinese themselves,” “wild monkeys, let the earth be cleansed.”

Some people in the comments object: “Everyone should know that these are artificially created viruses that only spread to Asians” (the author’s spelling and punctuation have been preserved).

Another video, circulating online, shows a girl eating bat soup. Comments under this video also condemn the Chinese for their “bad habits” in eating, blaming them for the spread of coronavirus.

Theories about how the virus is transmitted are also popular: from versions about packages from Aliexpress to assumptions about the dangers of Chinese restaurants and in general any sneezing Chinese. “When you’re sitting in your favorite Chinese restaurant and you hear a cough coming from the kitchen,” spoken with meme with an amazed black man at the table.

Meanwhile, scientists and doctors are still not known for certainhow exactly the causative agent of Covid-2019 appeared. One of the most likely theories claims that the zoonotic virus was somehow transmitted to humans. from bats - their specific immune system allows them to be carriers of many viral infections.

However, this theory suggests the presence of another link between man and bat. Such a link could be located in the fish market in Wuhan - the epicenter of the outbreak - where there was illegal trade in rare and exotic species of animals. Some experts count them.that such close proximity of so many species that might not otherwise meet could facilitate the spread of new diseases. There is an assumption that such a link - or one of the links - could be pangolin.

And what in real life?

From social networks and the media, racism spills over into real life, where it causes much more harm. Many Chinese living abroad - in Russia, Ukraine, Britain, France, the USA, Canada and many other countries - say that attitudes towards them have changed amid the outbreak of the disease. “Some people treat us as if we are a virus,” says Shao, a resident of Kyiv.

On the subject: Not all patients are equally contagious: who are the superpreparants of Chinese coronavirus?

Kazan hostel hung a sign about denying entry to Chinese people who had recently flown in from China, later saying “it wasn’t racism.”

Two Chinese tourists in Tallinn ended up in the hospital after the employee of the hotel where they were staying called an ambulance, finding it suspicious that guests rarely leave their room. Suspicions were unfounded: Chinese tourists were completely healthy.

Many Chinese people talk, if not about insults and actions, then about insulting jokes that hide micro-aggression.

Racism, sociologists say, often goes unnoticed by those who indulge in such statements and behavior. But for those targeted, “words and actions are equally painful,” says York University professor Roger Keil.

"Yellow Peril"

Neither the H1N1 swine flu outbreak in North America in 2009 nor the E. coli outbreak in Scotland in 1996 were racially motivated. In contrast, infections that emerged in Asia, like the novel coronavirus and SARS in 2003, or in Africa, like the Ebola virus in 2014, quickly acquired a “racial component” in the public consciousness: they began to be associated with specific groups of people and their behavior.

According to Roger Cale, an explanation for this should be sought, first of all, in the history of colonialism.

“Racism has historically operated as the logical equivalent of white supremacy. White skin was supposed to be associated with purity and health. And colonial history instilled suspicion towards non-white people,” the professor says.

Such an explanation is consonant with the findings of the researcher Kariann Leo describing consequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, for Asian minorities in Canada in 2003. SARS, having symptoms similar to the new coronavirus and sharing 80% of the DNA with it, then killed almost 800 people, more than 8 thousand became ill.

“As a result of SARS, members of the Chinese and Asian communities felt stigmatized and experienced episodes of exclusion, discrimination and harassment,” she described the situation in 2003.

In his exploration of the origins of the connection between racism and disease outbreaks, Leung uses the term “Yellow Peril,” which dates back to the late 19th century.

Its authorship is often attributed to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who supposedly had a dream in the 1880s in which Buddha riding a dragon threatened to invade Europe. Historians point out that the supposed "yellow threat" from the "new world superpower" was an important part of William II's foreign policy.

Increased emigration from East Asia to North America and Europe, cheap Chinese labor, and colonial expansion in the 19th century contributed to the spread of this fear of an “Asian other” that threatened the well-being of the Western world.

In his work, Leung recalls that in the late 19th century, local authorities compared Vancouver's Chinatown to a "ulcer" on the body of the city, placing it in the same category as the city's sewers, slaughterhouses and pig farms, as a facility requiring regular sanitary inspections.

Chinatowns and Asian regions, for example, at the beginning of the XNUMXth century Limehouse in London, were associated not only with physical illnesses, but also with moral decay: sin and perversion, sex trade, smoking opium and gambling allegedly flourished here.

The media, politicians and popular culture eagerly picked up all this, cultivating stereotypes and racial hostility until recently.

“This new virus has brought to light something that has always existed latently, not on the surface: fear of the other and the idea that bad things come from somewhere else,” says Professor Keil.

On the subject: Scientists have found a universal way to protect against all viruses at once

“There is a pattern of anti-Chinese racism associated with disease outbreaks. This is almost a ready-made template that shapes the public reaction in response to each outbreak, as was the case in 2003 with SARS and is happening now with the coronavirus, the researcher adds. “This is a strange phenomenon that appears to be as difficult to explain as it is to eradicate.”

"Wash your hands and don't be racist"

Racism is one of the main driving forces of dehumanization, says Professor Roger Keil. According to him, once a connection is established in society between certain population groups and diseases, “it becomes almost impossible to separate the labeled group from the threat image.” The consequences of such racism could be far more devastating and long-lasting than the outbreak itself.

ИErica Lee, a historian and professor of Asian studies at the University of Minnesota, advises: each time, publishing another post on social networks about coronavirus or interacting with people in life during an outbreak, stop and ask ourselves: would our reaction be the same if the virus didn’t originate in China , but in any European country?

Roger Keil agrees with this opinion. “Everyone can make an effort not to make unnecessary generalizations by taking precautions to protect themselves from the virus,” the professor said. “Instead of avoiding people of certain backgrounds or, for example, not eating in Chinese establishments, wash your hands and practice good hygiene.”

“Stay human,” he sums up.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Not all patients are equally contagious: who are the superpreparants of Chinese coronavirus?

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Scientists have found a universal way to protect against all viruses at once

'Awful number': epidemiologist says Chinese coronavirus could infect 60% of the world's population

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