A new public awareness campaign from the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice is working to stamp out coronavirus-related xenophobia. The campaign features bottles of … read morehand sanitizer bearing the message “Stop the Spread.” But while people might think the bottles are aimed at curbing coronavirus, they bear messaging aimed at getting them to consider their actions towards the Asian community. The wording on the label mimics that found on standard bottles of hand sanitizer, except it has been replaced with pointed messages about xenophobia. Under uses, for example, is the phrase “Protects against toxic behaviour,” while other messages on the label include “Works best with common sense” and “Keep (intolerance) away from children.” The bottles drive people to an informational website. The global rise of the coronavirus and subsequent media attention has led to an alarming rise in a different kind of sickness—racism directed towards the Chinese Canadian community. The past weeks have seen a marked uptick in stories about people avoiding Chinese restaurants and other Asian-owned businesses, and verbally attacking Asian people online or in public. It mirrors the upswing in racism that accompanied the 2003 SARS epidemic, which the Conference Board of Canada estimated had a $1.5 billion impact on the Canadian economy—$1 billion in Toronto alone—as travellers avoided the city.
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