As frontl ine healthcare workers and publ ic health off ic ials around the globe combat the COVID-19 pandemic,minority communit ies are seeing a r ise in xenophobic and racist act ions target ing them as the source of thedisease and the cause of i ts spread. These acts i l lustrate that COVID-19 is not only a healthcare pandemic,but a threat to human r ights and social just ice worldwide. In the United States, some government off ic ialshave termed the disease the “Wuhan f lu” or “Chinese virus” , a label that st igmatizes based on race orlocal i ty while ignoring the real i ty that infect ious diseases know no internat ional borders or racial div ides. Inearly 2020, as concern about the spread of the disease outside China became an increasing concern, dinersshunned Chinese restaurants, with owners report ing steep decl ines in revenue and foot traff ic in Chinatownsacross the U.S. down by as much as 50 percent . Today, that st igma has spread to other minority communit ies . In South Korea, the LGBT community has beentargeted with onl ine harassment and bully ing fol lowing an outbreak of cases l inked to a nightclub venue.Rises in Ant i-Semit ic comments and sent iment have been documented by researchers at the Tel AvivUniversity . Reports emerging from Guangzhou, China in Apri l revealed targeted harassment of Afr icancommunit ies, with pol ice ordering bars and restaurants not to serve those of Afr ican descent, and Afr icanAmericans in the region report ing that hotels and other businesses refused to do business with them. AtHarvard, the Center for Afr ican Studies, Hutchins Center for Afr ican and Afr ican American Research, CarrCenter for Human Rights Pol icy, and FXB Center for Health & Human Rights jo ined with s ix other area studiescenters to issue a jo int statement condemning xenophobic and racist acts ar is ing from the global COVID-19pandemic.

C O V I D -19 & Af r i c a W E B i n a r S e r i e s :

C O M B A T I N G R A C I S M A N D X E N O P H O B I A D U R I N GC O V I D - 1 9

May 26, 2020, by Emmanuel Akyeampong & Alex Taylor , Harvard Center for Afr ican Studies This document summarizes the conversat ions from the May 20, 2020, webinar onCombating Racism and Xenophobia dur ing COVID-19. The ful l recording for this webinar is avai lable here: https://vimeo.com/420716448

Jacqueline BhabhaHarvard University

H.E. Arikana Chihombori-QuaoFormer AU Ambassador to the US

Milliscent NnwokaChannels TV

Sushma RamanHarvard University

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S p e a k e r s

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History of Racism and Marginalization inPandemics The associat ion of foreigners or othermarginal ized groups as the source or cause forspread of a disease is not unique to the COVID-19 pandemic. From the 19th century, colonialimperial ists regarded colonies as a source ofdisease, for instance, referencing “Asiat iccholera” despite the disease’s prevalence inEurope as well . The 1941 pol io outbreak wasblamed on the poor and in some casesimmigrant communit ies . With the 1981 outbreakof the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the 4-H’s -“homosexuals, heroin addicts, hemophil iacs,and Hait ians” - were targeted as the at-r iskgroup. Likewise, we see that naming a disease for i tssupposed place of or igin can carrylongstanding misconceptions into the presentday; many people today st i l l do not know thatthe 1918 so-called “Spanish f lu” is named notfor i ts country of or igin, but rather because theSpanish press was not subject to the samelevels of censorship that other governmentshad imposed during World War I and was thesource of report ing on the outbreak. Professor Jacquel ine Bhaba of the FXB Centerfor Health & Human Rights reminds us that“Unless everybody is safe, none of us are safe;that is the def init ion of a pandemic. ” Asked whywe are seeing scapegoating or suspicion ofoutsiders rather than inclusiv i ty or unity inresponse to the COVID-19 pandemic, SushmaRaman of the Carr Center for Human RightsPol icy provided global and histor ical context :“Governments around world are using thepandemic as an excuse to enact changes inlaws and pol ic ies against persecuted andvulnerable groups, act ing in manners thatviolate fundamental r ights and freedoms.Hungary passed an emergency law with nosunset clause that gives the Pr ime Minister ther ight to s idestep parl iament and rule by decree.Rightwing part ies in Europe are using thepandemic to restr ict immigrat ion and havefalsely l inked the outbreak to Afr ican asylumseekers .

In the U.S. , President Trump is cal l ing for totalborder control while deport ing asylum speakersback to countr ies l ike Guatemala, where thereis a concerning human r ights record. More than20,000 migrants have been sent back toMexico, in v iolat ion of internat ional anddomestic laws. Unless U.S. Immigrat ion andCustoms Enforcement reduces the numberdetained (solely for seeking asylum), f ive ormore cases of COVID-19 in a detent ion faci l i tycould lead to 70 to 100 percent of detaineescontract ing the virus within a 90-day period.”The measures taken by nat ional governmentstarget the most vulnerable groups. Racist and Xenophobic Acts Against AfricanCommunities in China The growing trade and aid relat ionship betweenAfr ica and China is the subject of muchattent ion, both in the internat ional media andhere at Harvard where the Center for Afr icanStudies leads a research in it iat ive on Afr ica andAsia . The growth of Afr ican expats l iv ing inChina dates to the early 1990s, when China’sgrowing economy provided opportunit ies fortraders pr imari ly from West Afr ica to purchasegoods in China for resale and higher prof i tsback home. Tensions between Afr icanimmigrants and local Chinese are not new; in2009 and 2012, racial ly charged r iots broke outin the city of Guangzhou. Chinese authorit iesresponded with restr ict ions to immigrat ion.Today, the est imated number of Afr icans l iv ingin Guangzhou has shrunk to 10,000, down fromover 100,000 just a decade ago. As China grapples with a potent ial second waveof COVID-19, communit ies of Afr ican descenthave become a target . The U.S. Consulate inGuangzhou reports “pol ice ordered bars andrestaurants not to serve cl ients who appear tobe of Afr ican or igin . Moreover, local off ic ialslaunched a round of mandatory tests forCOVID-19, fol lowed by mandatory self-quarant ine, for anyone with “Afr ican contacts, ”regardless of recent travel history or previousquarant ine complet ion. Afr ican-Americans havealso reported that some businesses and hotelsrefuse to do business with them.”

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CNN “ interviewed more than two dozen Afr icansl iv ing in Guangzhou many of whom told of thesame experiences: being left without a home,being subject to random test ing for Covid-19,and being quarant ined for 14 days in theirhomes, despite having no symptoms or contactwith known pat ients . ” Some have even been lefthomeless after evict ions by their landlords orfrom hotels . Ambassador Ar ikana Chihombori cal led out theracist incidents in Guangzhou as “Sad,shameful , and needs to stop.” She shared thatthese incidents are not isolated to China andrecounted a video on social media showing aZambian man with a Chinese wife beingrejected service at a Chinese restaurant forbeing “a foreigner, ” despite the restaurantbeing located in Zambia. She l ikewise cited thereflexive react ion to dismiss the so-calledMadagascar cure, an herbal tea containingartemisia, rather than cal l ing for cl in ical tr ials . Mil l iscent Nwoka provided context about howthe story unfolded on Nigerian televis ion.“Channels TV started gett ing a lot of v ideosfrom Nigerians around the world, and viralsocial media showed how Afr icans were beingtreated in other countr ies, in Guangzhou inpart icular . Videos showed people on the streetwithout a place to go, stat ing they had beentested repeatedly despite negat ive tests, aNigerian the husband and his Chinese wifepulled from their house for test ing, manyexpressing fear and asking Nigeriangovernment to return home. While we could notindependently ver i fy everything that wascoming in, we reported as we saw them. TheNigerian, Kenyan, Ugandan, and Ghanaiangovernments summoned their Chineseambassadors. In Niger ia , the Ministry of ForeignAffairs has written a report on i t , but i t had notbeen made publ ic . The latest information as oftoday is that most people are st i l l not al lowedto rent an apartment . I f you don’t have aresidence you can’t get a permit for one, whichleads to squatt ing that is then used as anopportunity to deport immigrants . Videos ofblacks being mistreated are st i l l coming in .

Airways are closed, but Niger ians in China wantto come back and are t i red of maltreatment .There are also reports of restr icted access topubl ic transportat ion and health systems andconfiscat ion of passports . The s i tuat ion mirrorsthe fear of HIV/AIDS when people did not knowwhat to do at the t ime [of the in i t ial outbreak] . ” Racist and Xenophobic Acts AgainstForeigners in Africa Hate and xenophobia against foreigners is notl imited to what is happening in Guangzhou.Indeed, we have seen concerning incidents onthe Afr ican cont inent as well . The U.S. Embassyin Ethiopia released a statement report ing ar ise in ant i-foreigner sent iment, withderogatory and accusatory comments directedat foreigners as the source of COVID-19. Avideo making the rounds on social media showstwo individuals of Asian descent subject toshouted accusat ions of “you are corona!” inKenya. An est imated 1 mil l ion Chinese nat ionalsare l iv ing throughout the Afr ican cont inent,some of who were already subject to attacksover al legat ions that China is prof i t ing in theregion at Afr ica’s expense. These sent iments are also not l imited toforeigners of Asian descent . In South Afr ica, thegovernment has undertaken bui lding of a 40 kmfence along the border with Zimbabwe underthe guise of keeping “ infected persons” fromenter ing the country . Ant i-European and ant i-white sent iment has also been reported inSouth Afr ica, as some perceive coronavirus tobe a disease of tour ists or wealthy foreigners .There has also been concern about the degreeto which lockdown measures intended toprevent the further spread of disease couldexacerbate tensions against migratory workers :fol lowing South Afr ica’s lockdown orders, morethan 14,000 Mozambicans returned home,prompting the Internat ional Organizat ion forMigrat ion to launch a caretaking campaign tocheck-in on migrants and monitor theirwellbeing, both for health and against backlashfrom returning to their communit ies .

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Mill iscent Nwoka of Channels TV in Niger iacontextual ized the perception that COVID-19 is“a disease of the r ich” or could only becontracted through travel outside thecontinent . Niger ia ’s f i rst detected case onFebruary 27 was from an I tal ian cit izen inLagos, leading to a perception that COVID-19was “a foreign disease or only for the r ich. ” Theperception of COVID-19 as a foreign diseaseprompted some nat ional governments to closetheir borders, even as i t has become apparentthat community transmission is responsible forthe increasing number of cases throughout thecontinent . L ikewise, some tradit ional andrel igious leaders have claimed that coronavirusdoes not exist . “A leader of a rel igiouscongregat ion of over 50,000 members sayingyou don’t need to put on a face mask or socialdistancing is not real , or that coronavirus isactually malar ia” creates a dangerousenvironment for the spread of misinformation.“Al l of this coming together sows doubt orconspiracy theories that add to fears . ” Ambassador Ar ikana Chihombori ref lected that“When i t comes to COVID-19 in Afr ica,regarding containment and preventivemeasures, our governments have done a verygood job. But , we are f inding ourselves in asituat ion where we are scrambling to manage apandemic cr is is when we cannot manage theday-to-day ai lments of diseases in ourcountr ies . Ten countr ies in Afr ica did not have asingle vent i lator . The major i ty of Afr icans l ive inhigh-density areas and cannot use the sameprevention and containment measures. Thetreatment and tracking phase wil l be thechallenge. But , the world must real ize COVID-19 is an equal izer and a common enemy, andthat should unite people. We must real ize weare facing a common enemy who does notdiscr iminate, who does not care about howmuch money you have or what car you dr ive orhouse you l ive in . ”

Preventing Racism and Xenophobia as aResponse to COVID-19 COVID-19 does not recognize race, nat ional i ty ,or ethnicity . To quote our colleague Natal iaLinos at the FXB Center for Health and HumanRights, “Poverty, homelessness, human r ightsabuses, racism, and violence are not inevitableconsequences of COVID-19. I f they occur, i t isbecause they reflect a moral fa i lure in the waywe have organized our societ ies . ” Sushma Raman ident i f ied some posit iveresponses by nat ional governments: Portugalhas announced that migrants and asylumseekers can receive ful l access to publ icservices during the pandemic. “This is a publ ichealth cr is is that requires sol idar i ty , and we arein this together . Civ i l society organizat ionsaround the world—from grassroots to globalnetworks—are mobil iz ing around this , looking atthreats to pr ivacy by survei l lance ofauthoritar ian governments or mobil iz ing to helprefugees. Against a wave of publ ic backlashand repressive government pol ic ies, people arecoming together in different ways to supportthe vulnerable. ” Mil l iscent Nwoka concluded the webinar with amessage to the next generat ion of Afr icanleadership: “Afr ica is a youthful cont inent, butyouth need to think for themselves, educatethemselves, and know what is happeningaround them. Our leaders on the cont inenttoday are in their 70s and 80s, and startedwhen they were young, so we need more youngpeople to come out and tel l their stor ies . A lotof things can be done to turn things around onthe cont inent, but youth should talk to eachother and tel l their own stor ies . ”

H . E . A r i k a n a C h i h o m b o r i - Q u a o , F o r m e r A f r i c a n U n i o n r e p r e s e n t a t i v e t o t h e U n i t e d

S t a t e s

M i l l i s c e n t N n w o k a , P r e s e n t e r / R e p o r t e r , C h a n n e l s T V - N i g e r i a

S u s h m a R a m a n , E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r , C a r r C e n t e r f o r H u m a n R i g h t s P o l i c y , H a r v a r d

U n i v e r s i t y

J a c q u e l i n e B h a b h a , P r o f e s s o r o f t h e P r a c t i c e o f H e a l t h a n d H u m a n R i g h t s a t t h e

H a r v a r d T . H . C h a n S c h o o l o f P u b l i c H e a l t h a n d D i r e c t o r o f R e s e a r c h a t t h e H a r v a r d F X B

C e n t e r f o r H e a l t h a n d H u m a n R i g h t s

Speaker Tit les :

Special thanks to our partners of this webinar : You can learn more about the Harvard Center for Afr ican Studies at afr ica.harvard.edu.

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