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The Coronavirus Is No Excuse for Casual Racism
A fellow passenger on a recent flight seemed worried I was infected with the coronavirus. Was it because I’m Asian?
Last month, I boarded a return flight from Miami to San Francisco. When I got to my seat, I noticed the couple next to me was wearing face masks. This was around two weeks after the first public reports of the coronavirus outbreak, so I didn’t think much of it. I assumed they were simply taking precautions to avoid getting sick. Then, just five minutes into the flight, I took a gulp of water. It went down the wrong pipe, and I coughed several times. In that moment, I could feel the man in the mask staring at me. His face was mostly covered, but I could see his lingering glare. Then I realized: He probably thought I was carrying the coronavirus.
I noticed then that I was the only Asian person seated in our section of the plane. Maybe this man wrongly assumed I was from China, which at the time was at the epicenter of the outbreak. Maybe he was worried that I risked spreading the virus. With all these questions swirling in my head, as his stare made me feel increasingly uncomfortable, I saw that the row next to mine was nearly empty; I moved to a different seat. Only then did the man finally stop staring at me.
I still think about that occasion, especially as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe with no signs of stopping. It is hitting the global economy hard as companies halt operations in China and the travel industry limps along with flight cancellations and depressed tourism. While I am concerned to see how it’s spreading, the virus offers a humbling reminder of how interconnected humans are across the globe and what we must do to overcome the prejudice that’s driven by fear.
It is fascinating to see how our unconscious bias kicks in and activates so quickly in dire situations like this. My experience on the plane isn’t so unique. A few of my Asian friends who live in Europe say they’ve been getting uncomfortable looks from people on the street, too. There’s a distinct and unfortunate anti-Chinese sentiment coming from other Asians who blame Chinese people for the outbreak.
