The NY Times reports:
“I am announcing that I, along with 3 of my senior staff, are officially under self-quarantine after sustained contact at CPAC with a person who has since been hospitalized with the Wuhan Virus,” Mr. Gosar wrote on Twitter. “My office will be closed for the week.”Wow, Gosar is objectively describing how he is doing the responsible thing, and some Chinese politician hates him for it.
What followed was a torrent of online criticism that his comment was xenophobic and racist, and that attaching geography to a virus that was first detected in Wuhan, China, will lead to continued stigmatization of the Chinese. Among the critics was Representative Ted Lieu, Democrat of California, ...
A Chinese female editor of a Chicago student newspaper writes:
As for why your message was xenophobic, it’s even more obvious: You made Chinese students feel like our trauma is unrecognized and unimportant at this school. Your message suggests that our trauma is only worthy of being the backdrop of “important” discussions like capitalism vs. socialism.The girl being attacked merely said, "the Coronavirus won't destroy America, but Socialism will."
An especially narcissistic Chinese woman writes in a NY Times op-ed:
I turned 24 last month. The day before my birthday, I walked into a nail salon to get myself a birthday manicure. After I was seated, a nail technician walked over. She was an Asian woman in her 50s. She sat down and I smiled at her. I couldn’t see if she smiled back because she was wearing a face mask. ...This is shockingly hateful. I refuse to believe that this is representative of Chinese Americans. I am guessing that most of them think about the same of the Wuhan China virus as I do.
Finally, my voice cracking, I said: “I just came back from China in January. If you’re scared of me, get up and leave.” The technician went silent.
Note that the targets in the above are of different races. But all stories represent news media attacks on common-sense efforts to avoid a contagious disease, and trying to recast them as racist.
Are there any limits to what the NYT will call racist?
The disease originated from sloppy handling of bats or snakes for human consumption in Wuhan China, according to reports. It is the biggest public health crisis in decades. I am surprised that people are not much more critical of the Chinese.
3 comments:
The name of the virus is COVID-19. Although some circles prefer to emphasize its foreign origin in order to satisfy their us vs. them framework, intellectual rigour dictates proper naming.
Intellectual rigour? Are you kidding? Is that some British thing?
Most people call it the Wuhan virus or the Chinese coronavirus or something like that. These terms accurately identify the disease, and are understood by more people. Trying to disguise the origin of the disease is an attempt to confuse and endanger people.
Upon further investigation, I see that COVID-19 is not the name of the virus. The Mayo Clinic says: "The virus is now known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease it causes is called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)."
Furthermore, the name COVID-19 is part of a United Nations effort to "prevent" the use of other names that can be "stigmatizing". It is a propaganda policy, not a health policy. Call the virus and disease whatever you want. The UN should be concerned with preventing disease, not preventing free speech.
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