COVID-19 pandemic has become a crisis in whole worldwide. It continues to impact the globe positively and negatively. It is more than a year since the first case was reported in Wuhan, China. Since then, restriction measures like quarantines, lockdowns, and curfews have been implemented to curb this deadly virus (Khatatbeh, 2020). As a result, it has not spread quickly across geographical boundaries as it would have without such mitigation strategies. This paper seeks to discuss discrimination against immigrants and people of color amidst this pandemic. The topic has been chosen because there have been cases of harassments in China.
People of color have been accused of spreading the virus due to their susceptibility (Marshall, 2020). Some have been chased from their rental houses and spent nights in the cold. Such a move is inhumane since the pandemic is a global outbreak and requires the efforts of every individual to contain it. Furthermore, it was not brought by a specific cohort of people that deserve to be blamed. The choice to voice these social issues is to help fight against such discrimination and promote global cohesion and fight against this menace.
Since the onset of this pandemic, discrimination against immigrants and persons of color has been reported in many regions across the globe. Addo (2020) points out that people of East Asian and Southeast Asia have fallen more victims of discrimination in Australia, the UK, India, Israel and the U.S. Some people have been denied entry into their apartments, and some from access to public service vehicles. Migrants are unable to visit hospitals for fear of their identity, and as a result, they present themselves late with complex symptoms (Devakumar et al., 2020). To increase knowledge concerning this issue, one should listen to news from credible sources like WHO, UN, CNN and Aljazeera.
These media channels and organizations are rich in information affecting the globe and how to handle associated cases. This information is fundamental in helping people appreciate that infection is a global issue affecting anyone and its epicenter shifts from one region to another. Therefore, discrimination is not the solution. Individuals are advised to view people of color, immigrants, and poor people differently and always be ready to help where possible. Finally, to gain proximity and understand the topic further, society is recommended to interact with at least five individuals of color who may have undergone discrimination.
References
Addo, I. Y. (2020). Double pandemic: Racial discrimination amid coronavirus disease 2019. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2(1), 100074.
Devakumar, D., Shannon, G., Bhopal, S. S., & Abubakar, I. (2020). Racism and discrimination in COVID-19 responses. The Lancet, 395(10231), 1194.
Khatatbeh, M. (2020). Efficacy of nationwide curfew to encounter spread of COVID-19: A case from Jordan. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 394.
Marshall, W. (2020). Why is COVID-19 more severely affecting people of color?. Mayo Clinic. Web.