Coronavirus is not an excuse to be racist

Ever since the start of the coronavirus outbreak last year, the world has been embroiled in mass panic. With more and more cases being confirmed worldwide and the virus slowly spreading to every nation, people are growing scared.

Scared of being infected, scared of being quarantined and if we’re being really honest, people are scared of the threat. We have no idea how dangerous it is or how long it will stay a threat because all we’re seeing is confirmed cases and people being quarantined.

And when people are scared, they look for people to blame to deflect from that fear. In this case, people are blaming Chinese people and associating anyone of Asian origin with coronavirus. This stereotyping is racism and it is wrong.

Racism is never the answer and a disease is never an excuse to be racist. In today’s society of supposed ‘equality’ why are we condemning racism towards the Chinese and Asian communities? We are quick to call out racists online and on social media but if we see Chinese and Asian people being ostracised in the street, why do we choose to turn a blind eye?

Wuhan in China may have been the first reported case of coronavirus but that doesn’t give anyone the right to blame them for what has happened. Wuhan has suffered an epidemic that is out of their control and with coronavirus spreading across the globe we should be working towards saving the infected people and putting measures in place to stop the spread. We don’t have time for racism and we shouldn’t let it get in the way of the people who are actually suffering.

Automatically assuming that anyone of Asian origin is Chinese is an insult to their culture and judging someone based on their race or appearance has never been okay. It is still not okay and we shouldn’t let it happen. They are just as scared of coronavirus as everyone else and they do not deserve to suffer prejudice in their everyday lives.

Members of the Chinese community are reportedly fearing abuse if they wear face masks and police are looking into a number of racist incidents as the coronavirus spreads. Incidents of racism have been reported in Australia, Europe, and the US of people of east Asian appearance being verbally abused, kicked off public transport, denied entrance to shops, spat on and even violently attacked. We would not condone this behaviour if coronavirus didn’t exist so why are we accepting it now?

This coronavirus related abused has been nicknamed ‘coronaracism’ and it appears to be spreading quicker than the actual disease. When a disease is spreading why are making things worse by spreading hate along with it?

let's be honest Covid-19 not that good a name, they should've called it something that accurately reflects how most people see it, like "An Excuse To Be Racist"

— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) February 27, 2020

Coronavirus is becoming a pandemic but the thought of the racism that is growing with it becoming a pandemic is even worse. We need to fight them both together and eliminate the looming threat so that there is no fear anymore.

Please do not let your paranoia and fear of disease cloud your judgement and lead to abuse.