"Racism"
The COVID-19 pandemic is the global health crisis to all the mankind that we have come across as the year 2020 started. This disease which was first seen in China has now spread to almost every country of the world and most of the countries are under lockdown. This unexpected outbreak has put all of us in a great threat and has affected almost every aspect of our lives. Global economy is shrinking every day and amid this situation racism is also increasing.
Racism is a discriminatory behavior against particular race considering that one’s own race is superior than another race. It has existed throughout the human history. It exists in every part of the world but only difference is the extent of its prevalence. We all are going through a rough time due to the pandemic. The cases are increasing and so is the fear among the people. And racism amid this crisis has increased the fear even more. After this disease started spreading, many people from different parts of the world started blaming Chinese people for bringing such virus. We have heard a lot of news about how Chinese students as well as other Asian people were bullied and were physically and mentally abused. Even some global leaders were found to use the term Chinese virus which promotes and encourages racism. Many lost their jobs just because of the racial hatred. With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases among Muslim people in our country, Muslim society is being blamed for spreading and increasing coronavirus. Many comments and posts on different social medias can be seen accusing Muslims for purposefully spreading of the virus. Various videos where Muslims spitting on money, vegetables and fruits were widely circulated. They are also accused for being involved in some kind of conspiracy to spread coronavirus among Hindu people. This type of racist behavior has increased hatred and conflict among people of different religious background.
Racism doesn’t only mean bullying or any kinds of abusing. Giving any kinds of negative comments on social medias against particular race is also a type of racist behavior. This is called cyber racism. Racist behaviors and views are often more on the internet and social medias due to anonymity provided. Recently when I was watching videos on coronavirus, I found lot of hate comments against Chinese people. They were blaming them for this outbreak. Yes, it did start from china but we can never solely blame them for this. Before belonging to any nationality or race, all of us are human. We may differ in terms of color, place and behavior but it’s what makes this world complete. Being racist shows that we are losing humanity. US civil right activist Martin Luther King Jr., once said “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” This is how we can survive through any hardships. We all are in this together to fight against this pandemic so creating more hatred and conflict will make the situation even worse. Making others feel weak doesn’t make anyone stronger, unity does. So, let’s do everything in our power to overcome this outbreak together.