If it comes to pass – and to listen to some commentators
it already has – that the coronavirus has a racist slant, it would be wise to
remember that it is a virus. It has no agency, no logic, no predilections; all
it can do is reproduce and it is our own body’s reaction to its invasive
reproduction that cause illness. It has nothing to do with the colour of your
skin, or the flavour of your religion. And yet…
The lockdown response adopted by virtually every
organised government on Planet Earth works for a reason. Limit the possible contact
with the virus, limit the spread of infection. We have been told many times
that a large proportion of virus hosts will be asymptomatic. We also know that
the virus can survive for some time on all kinds of surfaces and it is spread
by contact. It will live on that doorknob, the banister you hold onto, the lamppost
you padlock your bike to and the money you handle. It will live on envelopes
and parcels – and who knows how many have had physical contact with that
parcel?
But despite these simple facts, the usual suspects among
the commentariat are trying to make this a racial thing because they say it disproportionately affects BAME communities. It doesn’t; it is a virus and just as it has no
agency, it has no agenda either, unlike the BAME flag wavers. And the use of
black and minority ethnic is really a cover for saying this is a virus with an anti-islamic
slant, because everything is about islam these days. Interestingly, repeatedly touching your face – as in the ritual act of
cleansing before prayer five times a day – is a known method of transferring
viral matter.
Ah, but, no, but hold your racist horses there: it isn’t
just the muslim community. It affects poor people more adversely, see? And
because BAME people are disproportionately represented among the poor and
disadvantaged, they are especially vulnerable. Another way, of course, of contracting
the virus is to ignore or deliberately flout lockdown rules and mingle with
others; something that certainly does seem to occur more often in certain communities
than others. Especially those communities who openly defy the laws and
practices of the United Kingdom.
I repeat, viruses are not racist. But they may have a
more lethal effect on people with underlying health issues, such as is found in
many recent immigrant communities. We are an overcrowded island and one of our many
burdens is somehow accommodating the millions who flock to our
shores to take advantage of our naïve generosity with little or no reciprocal economic
input. And if you sacrifice the health and possibly the lives of your family to
the unprovable nonsense of religion and alien social practices, I have little sympathy
for you.
Yes, yes, yes, many BAME British citizens work in the
NHS, but is there any evidence that they are not getting infected via family members
mingling in the wider community? This needs to be investigated in the fullness
of time and of course we need to know if, indeed, certain ethnicities genuinely
are at greater risk for possibly genetic reasons, but the most likely answer is
that it is cultural, not racial.
If one good thing can come out of this it might be to impress
on certain sectors of our society that their way is not better than our way.
That the government governs for the country as a whole and you deserve no special
favours just because your imams tell you that you do, or that the coronavirus
is a soldier of allah and only affects infidels and insufficiently pious
muslims. That there is one law for all and that segregated societies – often harbourers
of disease and death and inbred congenital fragility – are just not welcome
here. I’m not holding my breath.
Sounds like it's only a matter of time until the evil white English are called on to apologize to the world for the virus situation. Shortly followed by demands they pay out compensation, no doubt the civil rights lawers are salivating already.
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