April is Celebrate Diversity Month, founded in 2004 to acknowledge the diversity all around us and celebrate how diversity enriches our lives on all levels as we recognize ourselves, our world, our similarities, and our interdependence.
This month, that interdependence, paradoxically, is nowhere more evident than in the recent coronavirus outbreak. And it raises a key issue in regard to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI): We are one human family, mentally and emotionally as well as biologically. Perhaps the spread of the coronavirus ironically provides us with an occasion to remember this. In a brief essay, “Stigma and Resilience,” on the Centers for Disease Control website, we are reminded that “public health emergencies, such as the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), are stressful times for people and communities. Fear and anxiety about a disease can lead to social stigma toward people, places, or things. … It is important to remember that people—including those of Asian descent—who do not live in or have not recently been in an area of ongoing spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, or have not been in contact with a person who is a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 are not at greater risk of spreading COVID-19 than other Americans.”
The CDC notes some of the groups that are subject to the social stigma surrounding the outbreak: persons of Asian descent, people who have traveled, emergency responders and healthcare professionals, and even those who have recovered from the virus and/or tested negative. These and other individuals and groups may experience social avoidance or rejection; discrimination or outright denials of healthcare, education, housing, or employment; or even the threat of physical violence. On March 7, for example, a man on the N train in Brooklyn sprayed a man who appeared to be of Asian descent with air freshener while shouting, “Tell him to move, tell him to move!” The train compartment was not particularly crowded; others looked on silently.
Like the virus, which can affect anyone regardless of ethnicity, stigma affects not only the object of such attacks but all of us—and can become a serious distraction from the actual problem. If you are in a position to communicate this message where it is needed, step up and do so. If you are an employer, encourage employees to work remotely from home if possible; discourage their physical presence if they feel ill, and allow liberal use of sick time. You may also be interested in a 13-minute NEJM podcast with Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in which he details the way he advises patients, at https://podcasts.jwatch.org/index.php/podcast-256-anthony-fauci-talking-.... Finally, to maintain your best scenario for good health, please read Margan Zajdowicz’s article “Avoiding COVID-19,” which appears in this issue of the Voter.
—Chris Moose, Editor, the Voter
