Xenophobia Overseas: “I’m Not a Virus”

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I never expected that I would have an “indefinite vacation”, nor did I expect to miss my home, friends, and work this much during my “vacation”.

During CNY, my boyfriend (now fiancée), and I visited his family and friends in Los Angeles, but due to the virus, a majority of airlines cancelled their flights to China and we had to postpone our flight home. I thought since we are here, we could spend more time with family and friends, but it was not that simple.

Last week, we were supposed to watch the Oscars with a bunch of my fiancée’s friends at one of his friends’ house. We were both looking forward to this until his friend called and told him that his parents were not comfortable with having us over since we had come from China, even though we were just there for the Super Bowl a few days prior and we had been in the US for exactly two weeks at that point.

If I said I have no hard feelings about it, that would be a lie. Not every Chinese person has the virus, nor does every person who is coming from China. I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why do some people still think or act like this?”

I don’t know if it can be considered xenophobia, or if I just overreacted, but it’s not a good feeling. At the same time, I asked myself, “Hey, if you were a parent, would you do the same thing?” Well, I don’t know if I would react the same way.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, but it can still be hard knowing that there are people out there who are so afraid that their fears turn into xenophobia towards other people.

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According to NBC News, Tanny Jiraprapasuke shared a video on Facebook in which a man can be heard yelling at her, ranting about the coronavirus and making other hateful claims about Chinese Americans. Even though she’s Thai American.

Random users on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook spouting xenophobic comments are one thing, but I never expected to see a recognized university post something about it. The official Instagram account of UC Berkeley posted an image that considered xenophobia as a normal reaction to dealing with the virus. I was shocked and couldn’t fathom how anyone, let alone a university, could post something like this as it seems terribly irresponsible for an institution to try to normalize prejudice against Asians.

While everyone should take precautionary measures to ensure they stay safe during this time, xenophobia is not going to help anyone. Fear is mounting, but hate should never be a result from it.

I was reminded of that after watching a video that gave me some hope that people still do care. In the video, a young Chinese man carries a sign around Florence, Italy with a sign that reads, “I’m not a VIRUS I’m a HUMAN ERADICATE THE PREJUDICE”. As he stood still next to this sign and put a blindfold and mask on, some people stared, others took selfies, and what surprised me the most, some hugged him and took his mask off. This reaction was heartwarming and I wish it could be how everyone treats others, but sadly that is not the case for everyone in the world.

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Photos: theconversation.com, weibo.com, france24

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