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Don’t be racist: Blame the government, not its people | Opinion
The premise went from attacking the government for its lack of transparency to shortly blaming the entire race. I will agree that the Chinese government did not handle this well and should have done a far better job to contain and inform the global community.
As an Indian, raised in America, I faced a lot of bullying growing up for looking different. Some of it verbal and then gradually it turned physical. Unfortunately, I see the same thing happening on a global scale for the Chinese diaspora with coronavirus.
While most countries face lockdowns, I would be shocked if you haven’t seen or received some type of message that makes all Chinese people responsible for this virus because they all eat bats. On platforms like Twitter, the blame game has already started and has turned into an all out verbal wars.
The premise went from attacking the government for its lack of transparency to shortly blaming the entire race. I will agree that the Chinese government did not handle this well and should have done a far better job to contain and inform the global community. But, now we’re left with labelling a group that represents 1/5 of the entire world population for creating this virus.
Calling it The Chinese Virus incites further racist attacks. Spanish flu isn’t from Spain. Swine flu and Spanish flu originated in the US. The World Health Organization established guidelines on naming diseases. Yes, we’ve called things different and damaging things in the past. But, that’s not a reason to continue. “The Chinese Virus” was further propelled when President Trump began using it in his press briefings. But, even his own tried to persuade him to stop, as hate crimes against Asian Americans surged.
It’s because… Chinese people eat bats
But, let’s start with the original rumors. The media quickly picked up the idea that a human being must have eaten a bat, and thus labeling the entire race in having a “bat-eating” culture. To this date, we still don’t know who Patient Zero is of this virus, so there is no scientific way of proving if this indeed originated from someone eating bats. But, let’s just assume if someone did.
In all cultures, we all have a sect of people that tend to live a very different type of lifestyle. For example in India, there is a sect called “Aghoris.” They are prevalent in cremation grounds across India and engage in post-mortem rituals. They are known to eat human flesh, feces, and drink their own urine. Had this virus originated from one of them, would it be fair to call it the Indian virus?
I’m not here to put any race down or have people look down at anyone. As I said, all races have different kinds of people but they do not ever represent the entire race. Let’s go even broader. Remember that American TV show, Fear Factor? It was on for 6 seasons, where contestants ate things like blended rats, leeches, and spiders for their chance to take home a $50,000 prize. Or in the TV Show, ‘I am a Celebrity...Get me Out of Here’, a former Governor’s wife ate a tarantula to win a cash prize. Millions of Americans watched and were glued to these TV shows. Had any of them gotten sick, would it be fair to call it an American virus?
This pandemic has become a global event that has changed everyone’s social and day-to-day lives. With millions of parents staying at home with their kids, this type of xenophobia is not healthy for their children. It creates a nasty venom that they will take from home and bring back to their school as I’ve witnessed personally. My fear is that a new era of “closet racists” are forming, which will not be healthy, short or long term when this crisis is over. I hope we can rise up to this and not tolerate unnecessary hate crimes as a result of this. When this is “over”, every country will be reminded how interconnected we are. China will always be a vital part of the global economy.
I am sure I will get a lot of backlash for writing this article. Some may argue, I am pro-Chinese just because my current company is based there or I am trying to fulfill a political agenda. Perhaps, they should read the title of my article again. Blame the government, not it’s people. Even though I may be an Indian-American who is currently living in Hong Kong, I am a Sikh first. And in our religion, we are taught from an early age to keep God in heart and mind while treating everyone equally.
Do not make this about race. Make this about humanity.
(The author is chief executive officer, RedLotus)
