<span>writing: a lesson about coronavirus epidemic</span>
Under the situation where the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic is on the rampage, I used to consider the upcoming stories to be no more than a joint effort to fight against the disease.
then I saw a video on social media. In this video an Indian-Chinese man with a black mask was standing by the street near a blue cardboard read, ’I am no virus, I am human-being’. At the first sight I thought it was just a kind of joke, because it is certainly ridiculous to compare human with another totally different species. It was not until I followed it did I start to realize the scale of the problem.
The problem is about discrimination. Some Internet users have named the coronavirus ‘Chinese virus’ which indicated that we had better all stay away from Chinese because they are all suspected virus carriers. Many Chinese food restaurants have even taken a bit due to the fact that ‘Chinese virus’ is originated from a seafood market. In their opinions Chinese food may also have problems in safety.
I was puzzled, and a little bit angry at first, but then it occurred to me that such behaviors more or less made sense. Imaging that there is a man who have been to Wuhan recently living in your neighborhood, there is no reason you don’t keep an eye on him. And for Chinese abroad, there is no doubt that their appearances will make their neighbors feel uncomfortable, especially those who are not meant to be polite. So maybe the coronavirus is to blame instead of people. But are these reactions really nothing more than just a result of worrying or panic? Some words in their comments, such as ‘uncivilised’ ’dirty’ sparked my curiosity. I looked them up on websites to dig out more, what surprised me is that some of the notions behind the words even date back hundreds of years. For example, at the period of coolie trade in 1800s, Chinese laborers were conscripted by colonial powers. And due to unsanitary conditions, they brought out some viruses and led to inevitable outbreaks. Since then, unfriendly phrases like ‘yellow peril’ had made their ways into books and had consequently forged some stereotypes towards Chinese people. these stereotypes have misled some western people’s view of Chinese, and it has nothing to do with novel virus, in fact, it is the phenomenon that provoke ideological biases are to blame.
Coronavirus is spreading infection rather than racism. Outbreak may give rise to panic but shall not give rise to Xenophobia, and no way can a disease be an excuse to do that. maybe I have learned something new.
