"فيروس كورونا يخرج أسوأ ما في الناس" Mark Longley
لا
يتوقف الأمر عند هذا الحد، ولكن "تنمر كورونا" يمتد ويأخذ أسوأ أشكاله
حينما يندمج مع العنصرية والجهل، ليصبح شعب كامل أو ملامح الوجوه، مصدرا
محتملا للمرض، إذ يتم تجنبه والسخرية منه.
في
مقال بعنوان "فيروس كورونا يخرج أسوأ ما في الناس"، كتب مارك لونغلي على
موقع "نيوز هب" النيوزيلندي، أنه "قد لا يستغرق الأمر كثيرا حتى تختفي قشرة
الأدب الرفيعة لكثير من الناس، حينما يكون هناك ملامح تهديد محتمل
للبشرية، هنا يظهر الجانب المظلم من أنفسنا الداخلية".
وأضاف
لونغلي "لقد أصاب فيروس كورونا الذي ينتشر بسرعة في جميع أنحاء العالم،
أكثر من مجرد الضحايا الذين أصيبوا به. فقد اتضح أن الأعراض الشبيهة
بالإنفلونزا والعزلة الذاتية ليست النتائج الوحيدة للفيروس، لأنه يمكن أن
يحولك إلى متنمر وعنصري".
وتابع
"ما عليك سوى استخدام غوغل للبحث عن علاقة كورونا بحوادث العنصرية أو
جرائم الكراهية، لتجد قصصا من جميع أنحاء العالم عن الأشخاص الذين يتعرضون
للهجوم لأنهم يبدون صينيين أو إيرانيين أو من أي مكان آخر تفشى فيه
الفيروس".
ويذكر
لونغلي في مقاله أن "بعض الهجمات مزعجة حقا، فقد تعرض الشباب للضرب دون
سبب آخر سوى عرقهم.. هذه هي الإنسانية في أسوأ حالاتها، حين تتخلص من الغضب
والإحباط الذي يسببه الخوف من الفيروس من خلال ممارسة التنمر على شخص أصغر
وأضعف".Opinion: Coronavirus is bringing the worst out in people
OPINION:
It doesn't take much for the thin veneer of decency to slip for many
people. Given the whiff of a potential threat to mankind and humanity
goes flying out of the window as our dark inner selves emerge. It turns out flu-like symptoms and self-isolation aren't the only consequences of the virus. It can also turn you into a racist thug, an online bully or even worse a hoarder of toilet paper.
There is a saying society is three meals away from revolution, meaning we can skip breakfast and lunch but if there is no dinner on the table we revolt.
We are only one virus outbreak though from turning into a bunch of inhuman thugs.
Panic buying
Who would have thought toilet paper would become such a hot commodity, but fights are breaking out in supermarket aisles as people scramble for the last pack of Kleenex.One man in Australia was even tasered.
It became so bad here Judith Collins weighed in calling for calm.
"I'm not into panicking myself... I would remind everybody that New Zealand actually produces toilet paper and there's no reason to get all excited because there's a whole place down in Kawerau that just does that. Like, pushing it all out," the National MP said
Friday nights are usually a good night to go shopping in Auckland. Once the rush to stock up on beer and wine for the weekend is over the aisles are usually clear.
Except on the night of February 28 when it was announced coronavirus had made its way to Auckland.
I understand if you are going to self-isolate you are going to need loo roll, but I don't understand why you need to stock up if you aren't going to leave the house - do none of these people know about online shopping?
Racism
You only have to Google coronavirus and racism or hate crime to see pages of stories from around the world on people being attacked because they look Chinese, or Iranian or wherever the latest outbreak is.Some of the attacks are truly sickening, young people beaten up for no other reason than their race.
This is humanity at its very worst, taking out the anger and frustration a fear of the virus has caused on someone smaller and weaker.
Jonathan Mok, a Singaporean student in London was brutally attacked as he walked down Oxford St last week. He posted pictures of his battered face on Facebook.
Mok said he thought coronavirus was just an excuse for the attack by the group of four thugs.
"Racists constantly find excuses to expound their hatred - and in this current backdrop of the coronavirus, they've found yet another excuse," Mok said in the post.
The virus, unlike those people who attacked Wok, doesn't discriminate so why should we.
Online bullying
It's a shame that when New Zealand's first case of coronavirus was announced some people jumped on social media to bully the family who were affected.The abuse online was so bad it prompted the Auckland Regional Public Health Service to issue a statement calling for it to stop.
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