Racism in times of the pandemic

Despite the united front, every day seems to throw up new challenges and at every turn, the government is being caught off guard. One case in point is the migrants’ issue. However, another pertinent concern that was lying dormant for a long time has reared its head – that of xenophobia and racism. There have been reports of several people from the north-east states being mocked with taunts of ‘corona-carriers’. The most heart-rending was a viral video of two students from Nagaland who were denied entry into a convenience store because they were not Indians. After the incident sparked outrage, four staff members of the store were arrested by the police. Though it is hoped that this show of racism will be contained, there is an urgent need to protect migrants from the north-east states who are an integral part of several sectors, particularly the hospitality, beauty, and fashion industries. It’s no secret that they are treated as ‘foreigners’, forcing them to move around in groups for security.

William Horne, a postdoctoral fellow, who researches racism and inequality at Villanova University in Pennsylvania feels that the outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed how weaknesses in the social safety net make us more vulnerable to the spread of the pandemic. In an article in the Washington Post, he says, “Outbreaks can expose, and exacerbate, another fault line in society: racism.” President Trump’s insistence on labelling the virus “Chinese virus”, appears to be linked to an uptick in hate crimes.

India is not insulated from racism. Last week, Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, started tracking racist attacks on a new website he helped launch called Stop AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Hate. In the first eight days since the launch of the site, it received more than 650 reports of discrimination — largely against the Asian American community. How India rises up to combat this new virus in society, only time will tell.