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Racism: the Contagious Virus of Human Origin Opinion Open Access Journal of Opinion Biomedical Science ISSN: 2690-487X Racism: The Contagious Virus of Human Origin Emmanuel Chidiebere Edeh* Zhejiang Normal University, China OPINION against African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and other Often, we tend to forget about our own doing or worst, try to immigrant minorities in US. excuse ourselves to blame others. This undoubtedly has been the case of the deadliest and the most contagious virus ever know to Racism is contagious, according to [1] it is often fueled biological codes and seeks to establish itself. As a virus it alters mutation occur viruses, racism in the recent time has taken a thehuman normal beings. bio codeRacism of thelike victimsany other to code virus for finds itself. its For way instance, to our moreby environment, pronounced traditions,form. This culturecalls for or serious societal concerns influence. from Like all viruses are known to alter the RNA/DNA of their host to code for sane minds as it seems to be aided by the media outlets, otherwise themselves leaving the host’s system weak and susceptible to referred to as Cyber-racism. Again, just like viruses would take diseases or other infections. In the same vein, racism virus makes advantage of poor hygiene of the people to infect them, racism alike the victims vulnerable to health risks, social and political abuse. would take advantage of egotism and vanity to infect the minds of Racism cannot be blamed on monkeys and bats or other animals. human beings. As Abdul Majik Mujahid, an American Muslim Imam, Racism is of human origin and affects only human beings, as such of racism may exist in the hearts and minds of millions around theproducer world authorbut when and racism non-profit is acted entrepreneur upon, especially stated, by “Thea group virus of Racism occurs in many forms: Tribalism, Xenophobia, animals could heave a sigh of relief from human finger pointing. people, things don’t just become dangerous, they become deadly”. Segregation, Ethnocentrism, Discrimination, Supremacism, Hatred etc. Depending on the circumstances within which it was exhibited, of apparent self-worth or temporal relief from the feeling of void, the feelings and emotions which are attached to its interpretations. whileHuman the affinity person to at racism the receiving is high as end it tends is left to mentally give the and racist physically a sense Ignorance, fear, and jealousy are often common factors that can broken. trigger racism among people. As rightly stated by Eric Knowles, a psychology professor at New York University who studies politics The virulent racism can be catastrophic and spares nobody and prejudice, “Most if not all people carry implicit biases and with its aftermath. Racism is relatively linked with the European unexamined prejudices, some may harbour feelings of fear or age of imperialism, colonization of the Americas, Asia, and Africa, resentment that they don’t express in public”. Research reports Atlantic slave trade, subsequent growth of capitalism, continued have also shown that modern variants of racism are often linked Neo- colonization, genocides like the Holocaust, and Rwandan to social perceptions of biological differences between peoples. genocide, 20th century apartheid and 21th century xenophobic These views according to the reports can take the form of political attacks in South Africa. A report by Abdul Majik Mujahid, estimated systems, practices or beliefs, or social actions, in which different that racism in its various forms have been responsible for the races are ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, death of over 62 million human beings in the last 100 years. based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities or qualities. Racism impedes economic growth and development; it denies For instance, there is a misconception about Africans in China by some set of Chinese people. To them Africans are black, lazy, and social development of their society and it is toxic to health. diseased, poor and hungry. Again, a common observation in China Speakingsome members of health the risks,opportunity researchers to participate at the University fully in the of Southernscientific where the racial language (Hei ren, black person) for a black California conducted a small study using the RNA test to explain skinned and (Laowai, foreigner) for white skinned is used to how racial discrimination raises the risks of disease among African distinguish foreigners. Or the continuous systematic discrimination Americans. The results showed that racism appears to increase Quick Response Code: Address for correspondence: Emmanuel Chidiebere Edeh, Zhejiang Normal University, China Received: May 13, 2020 Published: May 22, 2020 How to cite this article: Emmanuel CE. Racism: The Contagious Virus of Human Origin. 2020 - 2(2) OAJBS.ID.000171. DOI: 10.38125/OAJBS.000171 C 2020 Open Access Journal of Biomedical Science 312 Open Acc J Bio Sci. May - 2(2): 312-313 Emmanuel Chidiebere Edeh Opinion post live video of the attack. Facebook took down the video and vein William Wan, a national correspondent covering health, announced the ban of white nationalist content from its platforms sciencechronic andinflammation news for theamong Washington African Americanspost. In his [2].article In thereported same owing to pressures from the civil rights groups. Nevertheless, the recent outplay between the Western media and Chinese media on racist comments due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, has that, experience of discrimination can flood the body with stress not only tested our resolve towards combating racism but also our hormones such as cortisol- a chemical known to trigger fight or tendency to gravitate towards racism. To this end, it is pertinent to chronicflight response. diseases. This stress hormone, over a period can lead to ask: will there be an end to racism? We all are guilty of racism, for it inflammatory reactions that make the body more susceptible to is of our own making directly or indirectly. In that we all are racist! prosperous world, and overall health risks in Children, adolescents, As we recognize this menace, it is therefore our collective emergingRacism adults has andbeen their identified family [3].as Ita robsthreat us theto abilitypeaceful to love,and responsibility at this critical time in our history, to use our resources tolerate, and harness the best in others. United Nations through its and platforms to promote understanding among people of races, Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has spread message of love and hope, and ensure the elimination of been at the fore-front of promoting understanding among people racial discrimination. of races and ensuring the elimination of racial discrimination. Non- Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like American Psychological REFERENCES Association, American Public Health Association, American 1. Wan W, Kaplan S (2017) Why are people still racist? What science says Academy of Pediatrics etc. Are actively developing remedies and about America’s race problem. strategies towards ameliorating the menace of racism through their 2. Science News (2019) Racism has a toxic effect. researches and seminars. 3. Trent M, Dooley DG, Dougé J (2019) The impact of racism on child and Although racism has been widely condemned and different adolescent health. civil rights groups have spun into actions. For instance, as reported 4. Stack L (2019) Facebook announces new policy to ban white nationalist by [4,5] in the recent past, when a racist gunman killed 50 people content. at two mosques in New Zealand and used Facebook platform to 5. Abdul MM (2016) Racism statistics and facts. C 2020 Open Access Journal of Biomedical Science 313 Open Acc J Bio Sci. May - 2(2): 312-313.
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