19 racism complaints
The Human Rights Commission has issued its advice for the coronavirus epidemic: Wash your hands, and don’t be racist and xenophobic.
Posted to Twitter yesterday, the advice came after the commission received 19 complaints relating to racism because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Chinese-New Zealander Helene Wong has been so sick of Chinese people being targeted she had a T-shirt made, which says: ‘‘I’m not from Wuhan, drop your pitchforks’’.
Wong said it was great the commission was taking action on the issue. ‘‘Fortunately I haven’t been personally targeted, but in mid-February I got so tired of reading about others being abused, here and overseas, that I decided to pre-empt by getting a T-shirt made,’’ she said.
Wong said she had heard of a New Zealand Chinese doctor being abused by an older man on the bus for blowing her nose someone asking for Chinese people to be banned from using a public pool.
The T-shirt has received an ‘‘overwhelmingly’’ positive response, she said.
The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has so far infected 90,000 people globally. One person living in New Zealand has tested postive.
The commission has previously warned the public about not letting virus fears spiral into racism. In January, it sent another tweet cautioning against fears turning into ignorance, rudeness or racism.
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon said anxiety and fear should never be a reason to discriminate and vilify any group.
The commission would not comment on the action or nature of complaints because of privacy reasons.