Coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, has traveled across the world, and its numbers—of new infections and deaths—are quite distressing.
As COVID-19 spreads, so does fear, prejudice and xenophobia—or, a fear of “foreigners.” The virus appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and Chinese people (along with other East Asian folks) have since been turned into villains—those thought to be the carriers of this disease. Hence, the rise of a more specific form of bigotry: sinophobia, or the fear of Chinese people.
Merlin Chowkwanyun is a historian and an assistant professor of socio-medical sciences at Columbia University. He says that this idea that people from other countries carry contagious disease dates back to the 19th century. Chowkwanyun says that a pandemic like COVID-19 causes people to look for scapegoats, or “outsiders” and creates a “rhetoric of blame.”
“And it [the rhetoric of blame] really follows a couple, I think, basic themes that have been remarkably persistent...through many, many decades, across centuries. One is that the outsiders have this kind of intrinsic quality, something maybe biological, but it makes them more prone to getting diseases and to affecting others,” Chowkwanyun said. “And the other [theme] is sort of related to that—but I think it’s distinct—it’s that these outsiders behave badly; so they don’t clean themselves, they eat strange foods, they live in cluttered spaces, very cramped spaces.”
Today, this link between contagious diseases and “outsiders” continues.
It’s no surprise that bigot-in-chief Donald Trump is guilty of racializing the coronavirus, too. Y’all’s president has referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” on multiple occasions, and had the gall to defend his stance during a press conference, saying “It’s not racist at all.” Trump has also evoked some of his old bigoted rhetoric in a tweet saying that we need a wall, “now more than ever.”
This is the leader of the free world. Father, help us. Here’s the thing: Trump’s been a bigot.
Dr. Celine Gounder is an infectious disease specialist and host of the American Diagnosis and Epidemic podcasts. She’s worked extensively with Ebola, Tuberculosis and HIV populations, and says that those diseases were racialized, too.
“Remember the 2014 midterm elections with Ebola?” Gounder continued, “You had our current president, you had Chris Christie, you and others tweeting things like those dirty Africans. You know, I was told that I was crazy, that I was a traitor to this country for wanting to go over there to help people.”
Gounder says that COVID-19 and its transmission has nothing to do with race—protecting yourself and your families is about common sense.
“Regardless of race, what you need to be doing is really the basic stuff. So washing your hands and I know people are like, really?” The doctor continued, “The best way to protect yourself: Wash your hands, wipe down your surfaces in your kitchen and your bathroom.” Dr. Gounder also says that social distancing is critical in suppressing COVID-19.
In this episode of Unpack That, let’s dig-in to pandemics and the ugly racism that follows.