“In France, Twitter users of Chinese descent have used the hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — meaning “I am not a virus” — to push back on racism. In the UK, a student said he was beaten up by men who yelled “I don’t want your coronavirus in my country,” and a 24-year-old tax consultant from Thailand was attacked and robbed by teenagers yelling “coronavirus.” In Italy, one of the countries the virus has hit the hardest, Chinese Italian activists say misinformation from anti-immigration politicians has fueled assaults on people of East Asian descent and boycotts of Chinese businesses. In the United States, Asian Americans have reported being attacked and having racial slurs yelled at them in public, and Asian American lawmakers have urged their colleagues to quell hysteria by only sharing verified information.”
Megha Rajagopalan
Coronavirus. Some are sick of this clogging our news feeds, some terrified, and some even stocking up on toilet paper and canned goods as if this is a zombie apocalypse. With new cases being confirmed everyday, Coronavirus is something to be worried about for those who don’t wash their hands (um it’s not that hard people), but we need to focus on the bigger infection… racism spreading throughout the world with the excuse being Coronavirus. Since news of the first cases, people have taken this opportunity to be plain old racist. Associating a viral epidemic with the color of one’s skin is preposterous, and it seems to me like people are thinking it’s okay. In an effort to reduce the spike in xenophobic attacks, Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice teamed up with Toronto-based agency The Hive to raise awareness about the racism tied to this epidemic. People dressed in hazmat suits with masks and gloves passed out hand sanitizer, but the message was much larger than the little bottle of sanitizer, its goal is to stop racism towards Asian communities. We need to spread this message, especially in the states because it is just as relevant here.
Brutal attacks, racial slurs, and assaults have affected many people since news of the virus has risen. But how can we help? As a society, we need to realize that our actions have consequences and hate crimes are happening around us all the time. Our media is also partially responsible for this outbreak in xenophobic actions, and needs to share the stories of those who are being attacked for something that has nothing to do with them or the color of their skin. Using a virus as an excuse to be racist is absurd, and it is important to acknowledge that this racism stems from a lack of understanding and shows itself in times of fear. Not knowing how the virus spreads, or how deadly the virus is can obviously cause panic, but that gives no one the right to exclude and degrade someone because of their race. Seriously, wash your damn hands and treat people like human beings. When will this end, and are you willing to be a bystander, or will you do something the next time you hear a xenophobic remark regarding this virus? It’s up to you.
my thoughts & some mumbo jumbo 
4 replies on “Wash Your Racist Hands”
This is so well put. I love the title and I’ve already said it a couple of times in this class but the sinophobic sentiment has got to go. Plus, as you said, it’s not that hard to wash your hands. I’d be interested to see the intersection of physical illness versus invisible illness if suddenly there were some kind of viral insanity type of thing. Just a thought.
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The solution for this whole pandemic craze is simple, and well-stated here. There should no blame being cast as to which group of people are responsible for this illness. Diseases come and go, and they spread– this is a simple fact of life. Instead of alienating and persecuting a group of people based out of fear, the simple solution is self-care. If the vast majority of people just practiced proper hygiene and sanitation, I believe this coronavrius craze would not have blown up as much as it did.
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I have seen so many stories on social media of how people are physically harming others based on their race. A father and son were attacked with a knife because they are asian. It blows my mind how we can attack people and blame them for a virus just because they are asian. Trump recently called coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” and its comments like these that are going to encourage racism. People are so quick to finger point towards a race. Do these people not understand that the virus is spreading everywhere by people of ALL races. People have been making the assumption that if you’re asian this is your fault when that is completely false and it is really sad to see all over social media different stories of people being threatened. It definitely needs to stop and people need to focus less on other people and more on washing their own hands.
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The coronavirus has definitely led to many racist remarks against the Asian population. As you have listed, there have been many unfortunate situations that these Asian people have experienced after this COVID-19 outbreak. It is heartbreaking what these individuals had to go through with these racist and violent acts! We should not be bystanders in such situations. These xenophobic remarks regarding the virus are unacceptable and quite shocking. Even worse, these individuals that are being attacked are victims to this terrible situation. Instead of going out to attack others and making xenophobic remarks, people need to work together and practice social distancing to fight the virus.
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