编者按：2020年2月3日，华尔街日报刊登了一篇文章，标题是“中国是真正的亚洲病夫”，并称目前国内深受其害的新冠病毒为“共产主义病毒”（点击文末“阅读原文”）。不少美国华人对这样的标题感到不舒服，联想到以前中国人被称为“东亚病夫”的历史，认为媒体在挑起对华人的歧视。陶晴女士起草了一份给华尔街日报和其它主流媒体的公开信，并得到了多个美国华人组织的支持。这封信已于2月7日发给了如下媒体：New
York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and all Cincinnati local and
regional media outlets.
When news of the coronavirus outbreak originated from Wuhan, China caught
fire on the Internet before the Chinese New Year, many Chinese American
communities were concerned about the safety of their families back in China
and the precautionary steps they could take to prevent and limit the spread of
the virus. They were equally nervous about anti-Chinese stigma and xenophobia
fueled by fear and misinformation, which became a reality overnight.While
there were only 12 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. as of February 6,
many Chinese Americans and their children, became targets of “harmless jokes”,
intentional avoidance, and discrimination. One Chinese American was teased by
a colleague when he showed up at work because his colleague thought “all
Chinese were hiding”; another was told that his badge might contain the virus
when he attempted to renew it; children were told by their classmates that
they should be quarantined because of their Chinese heritage.The situation is
made worse by irresponsible media outlets that choose to use images of Asian
people wearing facemasks or derogatory racist titles bearing little connection
to the contents of the story. On February 3, Wall Street Journal published an
opinion article titled: China is the Real Sick Man of Asia penned by Walter
Russel Mead. The author was trying to use a “clever metaphor” to make a point
that the Chinese financial market may be even more dangerous than its wildlife
markets, which were an unconfirmed source for the coronavirus. The term “Sick
Man of Asia” evokes painful memories of China and the Chinese being exploited,
invaded, and looted by the western colonial powers in the late 19th and early
20th centuries. It mocks Chinese people as being weak and unable to defend
themselves. Wall Street Journal’s tolerance for this type of racist and
insensitive language is unacceptable.Communities of color being stigmatized,
mocked, and associated with diseases is unfortunately nothing new, and it
seems that only some outbreaks are racialized. Neither swine flu (H1N1), which
originated in North America, nor mad cow disease, which primarily affected the
United Kingdom, generated a racial or ethnic backlash of this magnitude. The
flu has resulted in 10,000 deaths in the U.S. in the past year. Yet, diseases
like SARS and the new coronavirus that emerged in China, or Ebola in Africa,
consistently correlate with xenophobia and a lack of compassion for victims.We
in the Chinese American and Asian American community urge the media to
decouple people from the origin of the virus and take care to avoid
insensitive language that contributes to racial profiling and xenophobia. We
demand that Wall Street Journal in particular retract that op-ed and issue an
apology to the Asian American community. We are not a clever title that adds
color to your stories. We are human beings whose lives can be profoundly
disrupted because of your ignorance. Co-signed by:
Ohio Chinese American Association
Society of Chinese American Professors and Scientists, Cincinnati
Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, Ohio State Chapter
Mason Huaxia Chinese School
Westlake Chinese Culture Association
Greater Cincinnati Chinese Cultural Exchange Association
Cincinnati Sichuan-Chongqing Friendship Association
Media contact: Felicity Tao
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