In an ideal world, we might be able to live free from discrimination. But not this one, in which we are constantly dividing everything into "us" and "them".
This is especially true during times of fear, like now, when the novel coronavirus is spreading across China and the world. It's a time when "us" means safe and clean while “them" means infectious and risky. Or at least we'd like to believe so.
But this is actually a misbelief, which has been fueled and promoted by fear, and sadly, the media. When the outbreak first started, the term "Wuhan virus" was used in some news, creating hostility (敌意) toward people from Wuhan and Hubei as a whole. There were reports of hotels refusing to accept guests from Hubei and some hospitals denied their entry even when they needed treatment for other medical problems.
Elsewhere in the world, German magazine Der Spiegel labeled the virus on its cover as "Made in China". Australia's Herald Sun, meanwhile, printed, "China Kids Stay Home" on its front page, implying that all kids from China are carriers of the virus. It's also reported that Chinese people overseas have faced harassment (骚扰) and even violence.
This kind of misbelief is exactly why and when the World Health Organization (WHO) was trying to come up with a name for the disease, it had to be careful. "We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical (地理的) location, an animal, an individual or group of people," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, on Feb 11. And COVID-19 was the final decision.
World leaders and institutes are also sharing sensible voices. "There is no place in our country for discrimination driven by fear or misinformation," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a Lunar New Year celebration in Toronto on Feb 2. Cornell University also sent an email to students and faculty, saying, "We need to remember to care for one another and not make assumptions about other's symptoms or any characteristics of identity."
It's understandable that during times like this, we want to go to extreme lengths to make sure we're safe. But fear is never part of the cure. Only love and independent thinking takes you further.
