Coughing in Chinese: The Coronavirus is not an excuse for racism

Right to Left: Jenna Leung (ISB 9), Olivia Xiao (ISB 9)

Both staff writers at Buddy! , Jenna and Olivia have a knack for deeply examining social issues that plague our world.

In their newest article “Coughing in Chinese: The Coronavirus is not an excuse for racism,” the two take on the challenge of not only writing a joint essay but also tackling the deeply complex problem of racism against Asians as a result of the pandemic.

The coronavirus is currently the hottest and most sensitive topic. As the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow and panic rises, many have turned to blame China-- COVID's alleged nation of origin-- for the pandemic. Unfortunately, though, many innocent Asians have also been dragged into the affair.

Reports of racism towards the Asian community have increased exponentially during this pandemic. A report by Asian news source NextShark on Instagram stated that "Cyberbullying of Asians Up by 900% Amid COVID-19 Pandemic." The xenophobia has reached the extreme where Asians have even been threatened with knives. That terrible incident occurred in New South Wales, Australia, when the knife-wielding teen also spat on two Asian women for "bringing corona" to Australia (NextShark). To understand this mindless racism, we have to try and understand why it began in the first place.

"Cyberbullying of Asians Up by 900% Amid COVID-19 Pandemic."

The consensus is that the virus originated from Wuhan, China, with varying accounts of its specific origin. Some believe it is because of some people who decided to consume bats that carried the pathogen, which spread the disease to humans. Then, of course, the only reasonable reaction is to be horrible and racist towards anyone who looks remotely Asian. Note the sarcasm.

Some may blame the Chinese government for not controlling the virus sooner. That is not an excuse to attack every Asian on the streets. No country had perfect control of the virus. Its spread is at the fault of every person who refused to self-quarantine, every group of people who decided not to cancel their gathering because that might spoil their fun, every healthy young person taking advantage of cheap plane tickets and flying all over the world— jeopardizing the health of older citizens because of their selfishness. The world is in a terrible place right now, and attacks on innocent people will only make it worse. The best thing to do currently, especially in hard-hit areas that are not getting any better, is to stay inside to prevent the spread of the virus. Wash your hands. Donate to people who need it. Do not go online to attack Asians behind the safety of a username, and do not go onto the streets to threaten Asians with a knife. Asians are not the virus. COVID-19 and racism are.

If we trace this racism back to its "origins," we realize that the media is the ultimate culprit. The Western media has always portrayed China and its people negatively. One of the driving factors to all this shaming on China is because of the significant socio-political and cultural differences between the two countries. If nobody actually knows anything about China, how does the media seem to know all the details about how the Chinese are to blame?

They don't, actually. It's more based on the Western media's perceptions of China. Many people outside of China are not aware of what the country is like at all. They think they know based on what the news tells them. They don't know how China quickly responded and handled the outbreak, despite being criticized and attacked. They don't know how safe the country is with advanced security technologies. Some don't even know that Orange Chicken isn't Chinese food (sorry). It's fair to say that most of the mainstream media do not portray China positively. Consequently, there is a lack of representation and humanization of Asians in general.

Through Western goggles, every little "mistake" or shortcoming of China is exaggerated. So ultimately, the cause of all this racism is based on the Western's prejudices against the Chinese. Once again, not every single Westerner thinks the same way, and we are not blaming anyone.

Nobody should ever be blamed for the outbreak of the coronavirus, and nobody should ever deserve any of this hate. It's not really hatred that's causing all this prejudice; it's the lack of representation from the mainstream media. Because the representation of Asians and Chinese portrayed by the Western media is not usually accurate, people feel less empathetic towards them. Ultimately, the Chinese become the targets during the outbreak. People need to learn that what we all really need to do is to stay at home (if you can) rather than trying to put all the blame on others.