Opinion: Point and Push -- The COVID-19 Blame Game

By Jesenia Parthasarathy

When it comes to getting credit, humans will go out of their way to shine the light of credit upon themselves, and with blame, humans will go out of their way to find another human to thrust it upon. With every negative event, humans feel the need to find someone else to throw their hatred and frustration upon. In the case of a pandemic, particularly, the phenomenon of “othering” the blame is as plain as day.

When syphilis first erupted in 15th century Europe, the French called it the ‘Neapolitan disease’ (the disease of Naples). Germans called it the ‘French evil’, and the Italians and English called it the ‘French disease’. The Russians called it the ‘Polish disease’, while the Polish and the Persians called it the ‘Turkish disease’; the Turkish called it the ‘Christian disease’; Tahitians called it the ‘British disease’; Indians called it the ‘Portugese disease’ and in Japan, it was named the ‘Chinese pox’.

Today, alongside the spread of the COVID-19 virus, an associated distaste for the isolation and stress that the pandemic caused has created the need for humans to point a finger. Americans, too, needed someone to blame. Our President at the time called it the “the Kung-flu” or “the China virus.” Normally, our leader, our selected head of the country, and influencer of thought and morals stand at the front of the nation to tell us the truth. Here, former President Donald Trump pointed. His followers and listeners across the nation gathered their strength in anger and pushed.

The first few detections of the COVID-19 virus were found in Wuhan, China. Many then speculated the virus to have originated as a result of the Huanan Seafood Market in China, which had been suggested by some investigations. However, other research also suggests that visitors had introduced the virus to the market, which then, due to the nature of markets, allowed for rapid expansion of infections. Currently, the possibility of a lab leak being a credible theory has also been considered, but in reality, the actual origin of the virus has yet to be confirmed. Still, it only took the first few headlines, for many Americans to come to the conclusion that those who have Asian blood, genes, and looks, are unsafe, dirty, transmitters, and therefore, the source of global suffering. Asians have been the target of blame since the beginning of the pandemic. Within America, Asian Americans have, for no scientific or logical reason, borne the heavyweight of blame. This blame came paired with violence, aggression, and oppression. Even former President Trump claimed that the virus was created in a Chinese laboratory, and despite Trump refusing to offer evidence paired with the research that contrasted these claims, Americans still continued to unforgivably blame all ethnically Chinese people, regardless of their nationality.

In New Zealand, a study conducted by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission revealed that 54% of Chinese respondents had experienced some sort of discrimination since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and alongside that, 55% of Māori, indigenous people of New Zealand, had also faced discrimination since the beginning of the pandemic. The UK’s police data suggests a 300% increase in domestic hate crimes against South, Southeast, and East Asians. Spat at, shoved, kicked, sworn at -- at the end of the UK lockdown, these and other hate crimes rose in numbers. Globally this is a clear issue, but these sentiments are only getting reiterated constantly by our very politicians. These hate crimes are the push, but it’s politicians who signal the one-sided war by simply pointing.

“I don’t want them here. They steal our intellectual property, they give us coronavirus, they don’t hold themselves accountable” -- the words said about potential Chinese immigrants in the US. However, not by a non-immigrant American who cannot stand to see the influx of Asian immigrants. The quote is from American politician Sery Kim who followed this quote stating, “quite frankly, I can say that because I’m Korean.” For years, this sort of inter-racial hatred has existed, however, China’s involvement in the issue for negligence or as a possible source has incentivized increased and more widespread discrimination. Despite political belief as to whether another nation’s government could have done a better job or is at fault for the issue, many Americans truly wish to do everything they can to push the blame on the innocent immigrants who hailed from that other nation. Politicians like Sery Kim point and her followers push.

Minorities suffer at the hand of stereotypes and aggression daily, yet immigrants tend to be less likely to report these crimes due to fear of deportation. However, one of the main issues that tend to shove these cases out of the media spotlight is the dangerous ‘model minority’ stereotype, which is extremely prevalent in America. The common conception of Asian Americans is that, due to success in educational and professional settings, these immigrants are admirable and struggle the least. When we label a group of people as successful and thriving, we risk ignoring their hardships.

In the 6th century, Jews were blamed as the source of the bubonic plague. In the 15th century, Europe couldn’t agree on where syphilis had started. In the early 20th century, Spain was blamed for the ‘Spanish flu’ that actually had its first accounts in Kansas. In the 21st century, Asians and Pacific Islanders worldwide bear the brunt of hate for a virus strain with an unconfirmed origin. Looking or being Asian or Pacific Islander does not mean you have manufactured the virus strain yet this simple fact fails to register for millions of people around the world. Pushing the elderly, spitting on neighbors, and shooting innocent people walking by just because they look a certain way, are all unacceptable ways of expressing anger. Humans often think blame needs to be thrown somewhere -- and the easiest way to do that is to point and push.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956094/

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2020/04/14/pandemic-shaming-coronavirus/

https://time.com/5947862/anti-asian-attacks-rising-worldwide/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/03/sery-kim-texas/

https://www.npr.org/2021/07/15/1016436749/who-chief-wuhan-lab-covid-19-origin-premature-tedros

https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-we-know-about-the-origins-of-covid-19-11624699801