“Coronarasismo” – – A tsunami of hate

The crown pandemic has had major consequences, such as overworked healthcare professionals, a severe blow to the economy, and, of course, more than 270,000 deaths associated with the virus. Furthermore, the pandemic has caused an apparent increase in racism.

You can see the first signs of this. In late January, Dagbladet reported that increasing hatred, racism and xenophobia were reported against Asians.

In February, CNN cited several examples; A man in New York attacked a blindfolded woman and called her “sick bitch,” or an outspoken man on the Los Angeles subway called the Chinese too dirty, saying “all diseases have come from China.”

“We, the Asian community, are under attack,” Tanny Jiraprapasuke, born and raised in Los Angeles, told the television channel.

– I do not care

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Friday that the crown pandemic is unleashing a “tsunami of hatred and xenophobia, scapegoats and scary propaganda,” writes the AP news agency.

Guterres also said that a negative attitude towards foreigners has taken root on the streets and on the Internet, signaling the spread of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and coronary-related anti-Muslim attacks.

He called on political leaders to show solidarity with all people at a time “where extremists search for prey in the potentially desperate public.”

“The virus doesn’t care who we are, where we live, what we believe or other differences,” he said.

conspiracy theories

Sindre Bangstad, a KIFO researcher, points out that there are no tangible data and studies that can say anything about coronarasism at this time.

– But you see some things on social media and I also realize that there seems to be a growth in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. These are often tied to ideas about financial capital in the United States and that someone with a Jewish background should be behind the virus in some way, he tells Dagbladet.

Bangstad has also noticed other theories related to Muslims, in addition to the fact that, especially in the United States, one can see an increase in recorded hate crime against people of Asian descent.

– Another variation I have seen of this is also the general rhetoric regarding the Chinese in Africa. It is connected to a completely new idea; China has a large investment in African countries, and in some countries, the Chinese have been portrayed as the new disease-bringing colonialists.

– worrying

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that the virus originated in Wuhan’s laboratory, despite experts disagreeing. He has orso-called “China virus”.

– HWhat do you do with such statements?

– We know that people with a high public profile have a great influence on racism. This has been disturbing from day one with Trump. Very often he carries out rhetorical attacks against vulnerable minorities. It started with Muslims, then Mexicans, and now Chinese.

Here, a young woman told Utrop that she was exposed to coronary racism in March, while a father in Molde told TV 2 that a gang had shouted “coronavirus” after their 13-and-a-half-year-old Asian daughter.

– What is your opinion about coronarism in this country?

– I have to say that there are currently limited examples of this. In some circles, they came to Norway early by connecting this to an idea of ​​Muslims as carriers of infection, Bangstad says.

Last week, Dagbladet mentioned that there has been a sharp increase in coronary infection among the immigrant population in Norway, and Norwegian painters are the most affected.

– But this kind of story doesn’t seem to have stuck to anything. I think people understand that there is a risk of contagion because Norwegian painters often live more often and work in professions where they are most exposed to infection, for example as a bus driver, says Bangstad.

Bad conditions

Bangstad believes there is reason to believe that such a global pandemic will strengthen both racism and the notion that one must close the world to protect oneself.

– Then you are likely to get a boom in exclusionary nationalism and racism. At the same time, it is worth reflecting on the fact that this pandemic clearly shows that the world is inextricably linked, and that we are basically in the same boat and dependent on working together on common human challenges.

China expert Torbjørn Færøvik also tells Dagbladet that he has registered increasing hostility towards the Chinese in the wake of the pandemic.

– Cases of this have been reported, especially in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom and in several European countries. Now there is a lot of anti-China sentiment in the United States. Both Democrats and Republicans support Trump in the appearances in China and believe that China has kept it a secret and is the cause of many of the deaths in the United States, he told Dagbladet.

He points out that there was already a pretty bad relationship between the two countries, which was expressed in the trade war that started in 2018.

– Innocent is beaten

Faroevik points out that many Chinese live in the United States.

– Some have lived there for generations, and there are almost 400,000 Chinese students in the country. Many of them have come forward and said they feel they are affected too. One said the other day that “I cannot take a step without being questioned because I am Chinese,” says Færøvik and continues:

– There are good reasons to hold China responsible for much of what happened, but it is sad that ordinary Chinese, who are innocent, are hurt in this way.

Faroevik says Trump’s attitude and negative statements about China are not improving the case.

– Experts believe it is true that the virus originated in China. But it hurts to call it the “China virus”. It stigmatizes the entire town, the entire country. It is very unfortunate and can exacerbate bullying and harassment by ordinary Chinese.

The expert says that Beijing reacts very strongly to Trump’s statements, noting that Chinese newspapers and media have so far been careful to criticize Trump personally.

– It comes because they want a line open to the United States and Trump. Now I see that they are going crazy with Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo, and they characterized him as a liar. These are tough new shades, he says.