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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, April 06, 2020

Why We Need to Stop Calling Covid-19 the "Chinese" Virus

Although there's little doubt that Covid-19 originated at a wet market including live wildlife in Wuhan, Donald Trump's repeated references (he has finally stopped) to this disease as the Chinese virus has done nothing but promote xenophobia and racism. Some of my Facebook friends sent me messages warning against patronizing Chinese restaurants. I continued my take-out orders there, but two that do a lot of take out have been forced to close their doors here in Nazareth. Worse than this, some Asians who are as American as you or I are suffering retribution. One example of this is an attack a Chinese woman endured at the hands of a group of teens in NYC.

I know a lot of Asian Americans. My grandson is half-Vietnamese. His family came here in 1985, fleeing from Communism when Saigon fell. When they first arrived, they were fed one meal a day by their host family here in the Lehigh Valley. It was a cold Winter, and they supplemented their diets with horse corn with partial cobs of horse corn left in the fields by farmers after his harvest a few months earlier. When they eventually found housing, the entire family crammed into a small apartment to save on rent. Everyone worked. No one applied for welfare. They all became American citizens. Ironically, they like Trump because he's been a pain in the ass to China. You see, China and Vietnam have had a troubled relationship. Yet because they are Asian, some are subjected to snide remarks.

So please call Covid-19 what it is. It is not the Chinese virus. It is not the Trump virus. It is Covid-19.

26 comments:

Peterjcochran said...

With all do respect, Bernie, the operation frequent wind was on and around 30 April 1975 . Most of us here at the time had no idea about the struggle caused by and the invasion of the South and that time . Erving Berlin’s ” White Christmas “ was a signal for remaining Americans to go to rally points ..

Anonymous said...

Tell this tale to the citizens of Lyme, CT. I'm sure they will be in full agreement with your flimsy argument. Not.

Anonymous said...

Long tradition of naming viruses from localities associated with their discovery
Lyme CT
Norwalk OH
Spanish flu
Ebola
Hong Kong flu
Marlburg

Why is wuhan different?

.

Anonymous said...

You are positively wrong about the "Spanish flu." It wasn't discovered in Spain or any other Spanish country.

Anonymous said...

*originally discovered

Peterjcochran said...

Spain was a neutral county. They were the first to report it in media because almost every other counties including the U.S. in “The Great War” had censorship restrictions. Thus “Spanish flu”. This is why the Captain of “Roosevelt “was fired. DOD restrictions on reporting to the media about this virus was a flagrant OpSec violation ,and signaled possible incapacity for this ship or battle group to function. Then somebody’s going to take advantage of that . The Captain O-6 full bird , may have inadvertently gone off the tracks unintentionally..But doyou notice nobody’s saying anything about North Korea or Russia having this issue ?

Anonymous said...

From the beginning "TRUMP" was calling this the "Chinese Flu" because he knew it pissed off the Chinese Leadership. As is the norm with Trump, he never figures the consequences. They being; the Chinese makes more of the masks for medical staff than we do in the USA; the Chinese makes more ventilators for the world than we can produce in the USA; the Chinese makes more medical covers and protective gear in China than we do in the USA; The Chinese were angered by the title CHINESE Flu and ask TRUMP not to call it that but TRUMP enjoyed having the power to humiliate the Chinese. So when the USA needed all this equipment and China now had a surplus of all America's needs to fight the virus, what did they do. They said SCREW YOU DONALD TRUMP and donated or sold most of their surplus to other nations before accommodating the needs of the USA. Thank You asshole trump.

Bernie O'Hare said...

6:06, I explained why. Don't play stupid.

Anonymous said...

The big "D" not meaning Donald but meaning Dumbass is now trying to blame the 50 states for not being prepared. Can you believe this idiot. He is the president who told the 50 states not to worry the we would only have 15 cases and this would all go away. He called it a HOAX, He told the American Public it was a Democratic Hoax being perpetrated by the media and we had nothing to worry about. President Dumass stuck his head in the ground and instead of trying to help the country with this pandemic he accused nurses and medical staff and states of hoarding the equipment that could save the lives of numerous American Citizens. We as a nation totally were unprepared because Dumass didn't do his job and now he wants to blame everyone else. What a disgrace as a President and what a bigger disgrace as a human being.

Anonymous said...

Wuhan or Hubei Virus would be in keeping with usual naming of viruses.

Anonymous said...

I was certain the ‘race’ discussion would recycle back into play. Now, I believe, our time is better spent on eliminating delays to finding a medical cure. However, the sentiment expressed in this blog entry is WORTHY.

Anonymous said...

We can call the virus anything we’d like, but the fact remains its origins are in China. Basing our belief that it originated from someone eating a bat is suspect, as well, as that means we are trusting China with the truth. As we well know, China and the truth are not close friends.

Anonymous said...

China is our enemy and we better except this and deal with it--except Biden

Bernie O'Hare said...

I have repeatedly stated I delete all comments with blanket condemnations of an ideology or party. If you lack the ability to comply with this policy, expect a deletion. I am not hear for people talking at each other, but for people talking to each other. Also, I delete all comments complaining about my comment policy.

Bernie O'Hare said...

" He called it a HOAX, He told the American Public it was a Democratic Hoax being perpetrated by the media and we had nothing to worry about."

He did not call the virus a hoax, but the Democratic reaction.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-coronavirus-rally-remark/

Anonymous said...

Probably not wise to use the country of origin or presumed origin in naming the virus. The Spanish Flu may have actually come from birds in the U.S. For the president, it's the usual deflection tactic of a malignant narcissist

Anonymous said...

10:46 -

Are you disputing that the coronavirus originated in China, or that the Chinese government covered it up and withheld important information about the virus from the rest of the world?

Anonymous said...

chinese communist virus

Anonymous said...

Ignorant people will make ignorant decisions all by themselves. Unless you have been on a submarine the last few months you know where the virus came from. Suggesting that people have a newfound hatred of the Chinese because Donny calls it the Chinese virus is a stretch. I'll go out on a limb and guess these folks already had hate in their hearts. Its a big leap to connect Donny saying Chinese virus and any hate crimes committed because of it.

Anonymous said...

I 'hear' you!

Anonymous said...

Soleimani's Revenge,

or the

Election Virus.

Anonymous said...

"He did not call the virus a hoax, but the Democratic reaction.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-coronavirus-rally-remark/"


Exactly Right.

The statement is false to the degree it singles out Democrats specifically and the characterization as it being a reaction, it's a larger well planned heist to coincide with and manipulate the election.

If they cared about your health, healthcare would be a right.

Peterjcochran said...

I posted here earlier about my experiences at U.S.Army NBC school . My detractors are ignorant of this subject. The way we protect ourselves is what we see now in hospitals . Our training leaned toward nuclear decontamination then. However vector and this type of germ or viruses warfare was indeed on the curriculum . Samples would be taken in full MOPP 4 of landscape before troops would move into an area by quartering party. This is the same stuff. People that don’t pay attention now will become part of statistical base and some dead . The next two weeks are the most important two weeks of our lives here at the N.J. boarder . Please do not assemble with your relatives or neighbors. This issue is especially escalating right here in Northampton County because of the commuters and radius from NY and NJ. .

Anonymous said...

Asians are Sneaky Fucks= Remember Pearl Harbor !

Peterjcochran said...

Anon 7:30 is that they are smarter then us . Asians compromise the lions share of grad school chemistry,mathematics.and physics. The stuff that really matters . Your degree in stage dressings-means nothing. Sorry we white boys are not as smart as the Asians so were handicapped. Their not “sneaky” they respect each other ,their relatives ,their family name. If we here i,now we’re like the average Asian ,the prison would be closed up and the district offices .

Anonymous said...

11.12
"a big leap to connect Donny saying Chinese virus and any hate crimes committed because of it."
So if trump calls it the corona virus it costs him nothing to do so.
As an added bonus no one could try to tie his words to those who hate.