DEFUSE THIS MOLOTOV COCKTAIL
The pandemic is already a toxic mixture of fatigue, fear and fury. And while three young women deserve our condemnation, let’s not add racism to that volatile mix
IT’S August 1.
Winter is almost over and last summer seems like an alternative lifetime ago.
Even casting my mind back just two months to June 1, when Australia was sitting in a sweet spot even as COVID-19 continued its global ravage, it feels like I was living in a different country.
What a difference 60 days make.
And now, in Queensland, what a difference one day makes.
Community transmission has finally arrived in our state. And what a state we’re in.
As fears of a so-called second wave swell, despite the fact we never really had a first wave, it’s truly awful timing. We’re tired, we’re scared and, more than anything, we’re angry.
Being an eternal optimist, I am always searching for the silver linings of this pandemic – and there are some.
I honestly believe the way that we work will change forever, meaning the Gold Coast could truly lay claim to bigger and better business opportunities as bosses and employees alike choose seaside home offices.
But the unity we so rightly championed back in March is disintegrating, and our mental health, if not yet our physical health, is copping the brunt.
Social media alone is a toxic mire of corona-hoaxers, anti-maskers, the selfrighteously selfish and the outright racist.
Whether the vitriol is aimed at the government, at “Karens’’, at Millennials or at Asians, all of the fury is fuelled by fear. It is a mental molotov cocktail.
And as much as we are focused on finding a vaccine to the pandemic, we need a panacea for the public.
I can’t tell you how absolutely furious I am at the trio of young women who have threatened the health and the freedom of our state by lying and cheating their way across our border.
Adding insult to serious injury, the trio wasted precious hours when one refused to co-operate with authorities for more than a day while details emerged of a police investigation into her trip with two others to Melbourne to procure high-end designer gear.
The women even hosted an Airbnb party at a Melbourne city apartment – while that virus-riddled city was in hard lockdown – two days before allegedly lying to get back into Queensland.
It’s disgusting. It’s reckless. It’s criminal.
May the law fine them to the full extent, and even lock them up for their crime against society.
I am quite content for them to be named and shamed – after all, they are adults and responsible for their choices.
But when it comes to plastering their photographs across the country, I can’t help but feel uneasy.
I have zero belief that the publication of their photos has anything to do with racism. They are adults who have committed a crime and are the centre of a huge story. That is all the justification necessary.
For those who say other COVID-19 carriers have not been similarly exposed, this case is on a completely different level.
Unfortunately, the circulation of their images has already triggered a deluge of racist comments.
Our country is already angry, we don’t need more scapegoats. And by that I don’t mean these individuals, I mean all the other people of
African descent who will now cop the same social scorn as our Asian neighbours have endured for months on end.
By identifying the race of these women, it has also provided their families with the perfect inaccurate excuse for their behaviour: it’s not their fault, they’re caught in a racist system.
As much as I hate the phrase, that’s what they call playing the race card.
Let’s leave race right out of this. It has nothing to do with what these women have done or with how they were treated.
What matters is that they are punished for their crimes, not what they look like.
But to leave race out, we need to leave the photos out as well, and it’s too late for that. But Australia, it is not too late to abandon our abuse.
By all means, hate the crime and hate the repercussions. Be angry at these individuals, but don’t blame it on their race.
And let’s keep focusing on the positives rather than the negatives.
Let’s wash our hands, let’s keep safe physical distances, let’s check up on our older friends and family, let’s stay home when we’re sick and get tested regardless. Let’s look after each other and be kind.
It’s August 1, 2020. There is always time for better behaviour.
Maybe there is even time to turn this year around.
It has nothing to do with what these women have done or with how they were treated