Rising xenophobia

COVID-19 yet another gizmo for the people to acknowledge its xenophobia

As long as people have walked the earth, there have been differences that separate them. From skin colour and language, to the ideals and traditions that they hold to be true. There are many results of these differences, both good and bad. When people do not react well to others who are different, it can cause xenophobia.

Xenophobia can pertain to many things, with the basic meaning being a fear or dislike of something that is different or unknown to a person.It could even be considered a mental illness, as the people who are usually xenophobic believe there is something wrong with the belief system that they do not understand. However, this happens even when the beliefs are generally accepted by society and it is actually the person who struggles with being a xenophobe that holds the unaccepting beliefs. 

Since late December, the novel coronavirus outbreak has spread all around the world, threatening millions of lives while forcing states to take extreme measures to prevent further escalation.

As the new coronavirus spreads around the world, so do cases of hatred against Chinese have heightened.The novel coronavirus outbreak has caused global anxiety. Since the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China, Chinese communities across the world have been the target of a sudden rise in anti-China racism and xenophobia.

The xenophobia — blended with general fears of Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus — has taken a great toll on the livelihoods of Chinese immigrants and workers, especially those in smaller communities.

At many places around the globe, students had been pushed, yelled at and called ‘coronavirus’ and had experienced similar harassments.

There have been reported cases, of people making racist jokes related to Chinese people and the Coronavirus.

People started distancing from Chinese to save themselves from Covid-19. What impact this hatred against the Chinese will generate? Will the world enforce the same guilt clause on Chinese which they had enforced on Germans after World War I?

Admittedly, disease imparts fear in human minds which in turn nurtures discrimination. This has been happening in history whenever there was an outbreak of any pandemic.However, we find newspapers loaded with news of ballooning xenophobia and racial discrimination in the wake of the outbreak.

Governments and institutions (such as media institutions, schools and universities and health institutions) have a key role to play in establishing that their administration and orders don't play on racist stereotypes and connotations, and we all have a responsibility to help correct misconceptions. Furthermore, [continuous] public health education should be mandatory and accessible to everyone.

To conclude, let us hope that the world will soon conquer the ongoing pandemic. It is crucial however that xenophobia launched particularly against Chinese people , if not inhibited seriously, would continue to haunt the generations to come and thereby threaten world peace.