I recently published a Chinese podcast on the observations of racial discrimination that arose from the COVID 19 outbreak.
Racial discriminations against the Asians
At the wake of the coronavirus outbreak , Chinese and Asians have been discriminated. In the podcast, we touched on the recent incidences of coronavirus-related racial discriminations.
Unfortunately, some of these discriminations against Asians manifested into violence and crimes.
The hidden demons of hates
We believe that underlying hatred against the Chinese existed before the COVID 19 pandemic. This high-stressed crisis provided the perfect excuse, and window for the hidden xenophobia in the west to manifest.
Here are some of the demons at work:
Western superiority
Western leaders have a history of shaping the world according to their ideals to save the world and a strong sense of superiority over the rest of the world. This can be traced back to the Age of Colonialism, where the West invaded countries to “civilize” the world.
Rise of China
In the recent years, the rise of China as a world economic and military power have certainly caused anxieties and strengthened xenophobia against China.
Some of the Western media continue to incite animosities and project divisive views on China. Collectively, they helped to provoke racism and racial discriminations.
Ingrained Populism
In addition, the West as a whole has been in the populist political discourse and environment. The idea of populism seeks to strengthen identity and wants to distinguish one from others. As populism focuses on representing “the people”, it can be used to steer political decisions by disguising as representative democracy.
As a result, pre-existing prejudices are enabled and magnified. Brexit, Trump, Viktor Orbán’s takeover of Hungary and the rise of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil all had their roots in populism.
Regression exposed
We all live in a highly globalized world, therefore we should understand the importance of Interconnectedness, integration and collaboration. Even when lockdowns and travel bans temporarily disrupt our movements and trades.
Politicians, opinion leaders and media who condone careless words and acts of racial discriminations expose their shallow and outdated mindsets to the world. I think it’s tragic to witness their ignorance and narrow-mindedness.
We are one
We are all one human race; living on one earth and sharing one fate.
Undoubtedly, the COVID19 pandemic is a test on how we can work together. Failing which, we will all perish. As the pandemic has shown us, the virus affects everyone of us.
Just because the problems did not start in our country or is not happening in our backyard yet, we have no reason to be apathetic and racially discriminating.
The same applies to solving any other global problems, they include climate change, poverty, equality, human rights, etc.
This is WW III!
I don’t think it’s a stretch to call the fight against COVID 19, our “World War III”. We will have to win this war, one battle at a time.
Love, empathy and unity are what it takes to win, not arms and weapons. Information transparency, knowledge sharing, technology and innovation will all pave the way for the ultimate triumph. And, we can all value add to this.
The coronavirus is not racist, neither should we be
It’s time to throw away our differences.
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