Blaming racism for virus petition is a cop-out

The novel coronavirus originated in and is spreading rapidly in China. It is not a Chinese virus. But perceptions often trump reality.

Ironically, the less officials are perceived to be doing to prevent its spread in Canada, the more likely the backlash against Canadians of Chinese heritage.

On Friday, my niece told her family that one of her classmates had been detained and quarantined in China. Her parents determined it was just unsubstantiated chatter but that’s how rumours start and perceptions are shaped.

She attends a York Region school where a petition asking officials to take steps to prevent coronavirus spread circulated. It wanted families returning from China to identify themselves, selfquarantine for 17 days before returning to class regardless of whether they had symptoms and officials to allow students to wear masks.

It also asked that health guidelines (I interpreted as cough in sleeve, washing etc.) be enforced.

And while some have attributed the petition to racism, there’s more to it. I happen to know that at least some (and maybe most) of the organizers and signatories are other families of Chinese origin — ones who did not travel to China over the holidays.

Before the petition appeared online, families of Chinese origin approached my sister at her daughter’s school and asked her to speak to the principal about instituting much of what the petition outlines. She’s an active member of parent council and, as a Canadian of Chinese heritage, they felt the ideal person to convey their concerns.

The request was born out of fear for the health and safety of their children, knowledge of families that were soon to return from travels in coronavirus hot spots and fuelled by social media — much of it on WeChat.

I asked if perhaps the parent council could provide hand sanitizer for classes to use as one step to help perceptions, but she had already been told no. Students could bring their own, but the school couldn’t supply it.

While there is a risk of hand sanitizer being misused by children, perhaps they are outweighed during cold and flu season and novel virus outbreaks.

Officials may want to be reminded that The Ontario Poison Centre fact sheet from 2007 states: “Hand sanitizers … Are considered to be highly effective in preventing the spread of infection within health care facilities and are endorsed by a number of agencies including: CDC (Centre for Disease Control), WHO (World Health Organization), PHAC (Public Health Agency of Canada) etc.”

They even offer guidelines as to how they can be safely used in daycare and school settings. Providing it might have improved perceptions of inaction but the bigger problem now could be sourcing it.

The head tax levied on Chinese immigrants to Canada between 1885 and 1923 was born of racism and xenophobia. This petition is more complicated. Blaming racism in this case is a cop-out. What officials need to figure out is how they have come to be perceived as being ineffective in their response to this health issue and fix it.

In the meantime, the parents who started and signed the petition are afraid for their children. Many of their fears are a result of communicating with friends and family in China and Hong Kong. They don’t think officials are doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus here and having this petition dismissed as racism isn’t going to help.