Imagine you are talking with a group of friends, just minding your own business at school, when suddenly you hear a group of students yelling “Asian virus” and coughing in your direction. You stand there feeling singled out, unable to absorb the fact that students from your own school, the place that you come to everyday and feel the most comfortable, are mocking you because of your race. As the reader you may be thinking, “but this would never happen at Collingwood.” Well this is where you are wrong, because this did happen at our own school just this past year. Not only were these encounters an instance of bullying, but also an example of uttar descrimination.We need to work together to put an end to this racism.
Although it is true that the Covid 19 pandemic has affected the Asian community at our secluded and sheltered private school, it has also had a negative impact on Asians all around the world. The Covid 19 Pandemic has highlighted how ignorant our society is. Some of the people who have been affected by the devastating impacts of Covid 19 are frantically trying to find a scapegoat for the virus. According to CTV news, Asian hate crimes have increased by 717% in our city, Vancouver, Canada. Blaming, harming, or in some instances even killing someone because of their race is not acceptable and should not be a normality within our society.
Being from South Asia myself, these Asian hate crimes sent an instant shock wave down my spine. Not only did these horrific offences against race scare me but they also made it entirely apparent that racism is still thriving within our closed minded society. Asian or not, we all need to stand up against racial profiling, whether that means attending a local protest, joining a movement agaist “Asian hate” or even just sending a quick post to a friend about the issue. Every action counts. Furthermore, we all need to work towards accepting and understanding that the entire Asian community did not cause the Covid 19 pandemic. Both informing yourself as well as doing your best to inform others about the real origin of Covid 19 will help shift our society away from placing the blame for the pandemic on the Asian community. Just because the virus began in Wuhan, China does not mean that all people of Asian descent are to blame. It does mean we can justify alienating them from our communities and it certainly does not make it acceptable to physically harm or hurt Asian citizens, who are an essential part of our communities.
Even though Covid 19 has dramatically changed our reality, we can not turn on each other. We can not continue to live in a segregated society where people are constantly turning others into the scapegoat for their issues. The only way that we are going to make it through this global crisis is if we unite as one force; the citizens of the world against Covid 19.