# Racism and "Wuhan virus" - only because Wuhan is a fairly well known large city? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 19, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807 "2020-03-19T15:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/41 "2020-03-19T20:53:55Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > BTW, the World Health Organization is heavily influenced by China, and the WHO’s initial response to the virus downplayed it and basically repeated the Chinese line for some time until reality became unavoidable. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/42 "2020-03-19T21:00:14Z")
For what it’s worth, I never heard anyone call it the Wuhan virus. I think I heard coronavirus from the beginning. Could someone cite a reasonable mainstream source calling it the Wuhan virus? Second, I’ve still never heard that or heard complaints about that. I’ve seen complaints about calling it the Chinese virus, but not Wuhan virus, because no one is calling it that that I’ve seen. Third, I never heard of Wuhan or Hubei before this, so I dispute that it’s a fairly well known large city, at least as far as your average American goes. TLDR: I’ve only heard complaints about racism when people call it the Chinese virus, and I’ve never heard it called the Wuhan virus. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/43 "2020-03-19T21:08:10Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Reveling in? Like your lack of any kind of factual perspective. Did Trump allow the virus to spread in China? Did he allow it to spread in Italy? No. Trump had little control over any of those things. The part that Trump may have played a positive role in this, by, for example, not disbanding the US CDC’s world health team, he did the harmful act. Of the things Trump did have control over, like administrating the US’ agencies that would have helped monitor, plan, and handle the outbreak of this disease, he made it worse. On the issue of public awareness and public concern, he called it a hoax and a creation of his political enemies. Of the things under his control, he made all of them worse. Every choice he made is a choice that was more likely to result in harm to the world and harm to the Americans under his responsibility. > [@madsircool](#): > > Dealing with pandemics is hard an uncertain work. So tell me, what steps did Trump take to make sure that we had the best experts implementing the best policy to do as well as we could’ve? ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/44 "2020-03-19T21:09:39Z")
The Venn diagram of people who believe there is a War on Christmas and those who go out of thier way to call it the foreign or China virus is a circle. It’s conservative virtue signalling. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/45 "2020-03-19T21:28:54Z")
stupid server errors; duplicate post from 35 minutes ago ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/46 "2020-03-19T21:38:53Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > The Venn diagram of people who believe there is a War on Christmas and those who go out of thier way to call it the foreign or China virus is a circle. > > It’s conservative virtue signalling. OK, but is anyone calling it the Wuhan virus? That’s the whole point of this thread, something about Wuhan being a well known city(?) causing the complaints about people calling it that. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/47 "2020-03-19T21:51:34Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > … It also ignores the fact that this same government lied its way to tens of millions of Chinese deaths during the Great Leap Forward. Maybe we should call it the CCP virus? Oh my. Perhaps the next time there’s a genocide it should be referred to as an “Americanization” so we don’t “ignore the facts” of the slaughters of so many Native Americans by These United States. One thing is certain. The proper noun ‘Trump’ will be used as a common noun in future — like those of quisling, boycott, machiavelli, sade — and it will not be used in a complimentary way. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/48 "2020-03-19T21:55:59Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Not true. The notion that China’s vast clout and economic power and PR influence cause the international community to have to tread more carefully with any term that offends China, (as opposed to few people objecting to some obscure town or forest in a Third World country having a disease label attached to it,) is a perfectly reasonable one. Beijing is known for throwing a fit over things that upset it. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/49 "2020-03-19T22:31:25Z")
There is no use in naming a disease after the animal it came from (Swine flu) or the nation that reported it (Spanish flu) or the place where it became infamous (MERS). They offer no useful information, and serve only to stigmatize a thing or place for political reasons. Take for example Spanish Flu… most likely it originated in Ft. Riley, Kansas. Spain had nothing to do with it. That’s why it’s better to have a depoliticized naming system. I mean, should we start calling hurricanes “Hurricane Azores” because that’s where it came from? It’s nonsense. That’s why we have a neutral naming scheme. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/50 "2020-03-19T22:44:56Z")
The whole idea is to politicize this serious crisis and rally the base to hide gross mismanagement. Every disaster is a constant game of distract the public, pass the buck. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/51 "2020-03-19T22:48:28Z")
I personally have no problem, whatsoever, with it being referred to as “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese flu” or whatever else our fine Prez (and his many acolytes) wish to refer to it as. These weird bugs come out of “Jy-na” for a reason (actually, several) and I think it’s only fair that the Chinese (or even just a segment) get saddled with this outbreak being named after them. Eff them and their open-air markets, (illegal) exotic animal trade, and lack of governmental control. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/52 "2020-03-19T23:01:52Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Reveling in? Like your lack of any kind of factual perspective. Did Trump allow the virus to spread in China? Did he allow it to spread in Italy? No. But there are quite a few lefty Trumps on these boards who speak from emotion and ignorance. Who are willing to name call and rush to hasty conclusions. Truthful information is pretty damn hard to come by when the nation of origin jails and journo or academic who dares speak the truth. Inaction? Should he have immediately shut the borders? We still arent sure exactly what the Feds can actually do without some kind of martial law being declared. If he had done that this thread would be about Trumps naked attempt to grab power and make himself President for life. I hate Trump but I would rather try to look at the facts as objectively as I possibly can and give him some space. It took months and an exponential spread of HIV for SF/LA/NYC to shut down their bathhouses. Dealing with pandemics is hard an uncertain work. Keep passing that buck while Trump wastes time and lies to you. Trump says he closes travel from Europe, but doesn’t. Trump says you have enough tests, but don’t. Trump says he acted quickly by early closing travel from China, but didn’t until it was already all over Italy, Iran, Europe. Trump says that the pandemic will just “go away” it doesn’t. Trump says google is setting up a testing website, it isn’t. Trump says he never heard of the firing of your emergency pandemic team, he did. Trump says nobody knew of the coronavirus a month ago, when the dem were using it as a talking point all during their debates. He’s spreading [lies and misinformation DAILY](https://youtu.be/vBWWzpBbmwY?t=98)! He’s using these addresses to insult the press and politicize shit like THE NAME of the virus. You are bathing in this gross and deadly mismanagement. What will you say when your employment numbers follow the tanking of your stock markets? Nothing. Just China, China, China. Never focusing on Trumps gross mishandling. Good job. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/53 "2020-03-19T23:05:17Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The difference between the Wuhan Virus and the other geographically-named viruses is that only Wuhan has the power of the Chinese state trying to get the name changed. More likely, the fact that American and European corporations tend to dominate telecommunications means that reporters latched onto a “foreign” location for the name rather than selecting a more neutral name. If it was simply a matter of picking a name geographically, the strain of H1N1 that came to be called Swine Flu would have received the name American Flu based on where it originated. As noted above, the naming of the geographically named diseases predates the spread of modern media. Spanish Flu was a deliberate effort to mislead people about its origin and spread. I am not denying the reprehensible Trump-like actions of China in downplaying the origin and severity of the disease, (maybe we should call it the Chinese-Trump Disinformation Flu), but the number of assaults on Chinese persons and establishments and Chinese appearing persons with Trump’s influence renders “Wuhan Virus” or “Chinese Virus” to be basically both misleading and (deliberately) xenophobic. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/54 "2020-03-19T23:46:26Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > There has been criticism that the term “Wuhan virus” is racist, or stigmatizing, because it gives social stigma to people from Wuhan, which is a large and prominent city. > > At the same time, however, terms such as Ebola virus (Ebola river in Congo,) or Lassa Fever (Lassa in Nigeria), Nipah virus (Sungai Nipah in Malaysia,) Zika virus (Zika forest in Uganda,) Rift Valley fever (Rift valley in Kenya,) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (the Middle East,) remain prevalent in usage, with little or no controversy. > > Is it only because Wuhan is a well-known city and hence the stigma would arise more easily (whereas most Westerners wouldn’t recognize the name Lassa or Sungai Nipah?) Or because China has more clout and the international community is more reluctant to anger China? The CCP is waging a full on propaganda war right now. They are playing every card in the deck, including the racism card, because they know that saying ‘racism’ is a trigger in the west. So, the reason you are even asking this question is because the CCP wants you to ask it…and has literally flooded the west and western media with this narrative. Back at home, Chinese state run media has been playing fast and loose with the facts, kind a sort of saying that, well, maybe the virus originated elsewhere. Maybe it was manufactured and planted by the US. There is no scientific proof of where it originated, as no one knows who patient zero is. Blah blah blah. This is a fairly recent thing, but notice that it’s all through our own media. Hell, the WHO is ever ready to blow the CCP for that sweet, sweet China money, and there is a self perpetuating feed back look between WHO praise of China (and down playing the not so good aspects) and the Chinese state media quoting WHO about how great they are doing…and then western media quoting both. It’s a total circle jerk and folks are falling for it. Completely forgotten seems to be things like the first case was in November, and the Chinese sat on this and also deliberately covered it up, even to the point of encouraging folks to congregate together in public, so that this thing spread wildly not just throughout China but throughout the world. It’s pretty interesting if you look at where the hot spots are through the world and you follow the belt and road money. So, you are asking this question and wondering about racism and why it shouldn’t be called ‘Wuhan virus’, and perhaps questioning whether even saying it originated in China is racism and racist because the CCP wants you to be doing those things…and pretty much everyone is playing along for some reason. Trusted institutes (well, the SHOULD be trusted) like western media and the WHO are in lockstep and going along, so you think, yeah, this must be a thing. It’s not. Unless ‘a thing’ is ‘a manufactured thing’. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/55 "2020-03-20T00:38:34Z")
OK, I literally can’t find anyone calling it “Wuhan virus” except for some site that said that Secretary of State Pompeo called it that. It was always coronavirus to me, not because I’m politically correct, but because that’s all it was ever called on any site or news source I look at. Can someone point to any mainstream site calling it that? I feel like this whole thread is started on false pretenses. BTW, that Trump thing, overwriting coronavirus and changing it to China virus? I know it’s like number one billion in all the awful things he’s done, but it really bothers me. What a divisive asshole that guy is. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/56 "2020-03-20T00:42:47Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > OK, I literally can’t find anyone calling it “Wuhan virus” except for some site that said that Secretary of State Pompeo called it that. It was always coronavirus to me, not because I’m politically correct, but because that’s all it was ever called on any site or news source I look at. > > Can someone point to any mainstream site calling it that? I feel like this whole thread is started on false pretenses. > > BTW, that Trump thing, overwriting coronavirus and changing it to China virus? I know it’s like number one billion in all the awful things he’s done, but it really bothers me. What a divisive asshole that guy is. Nope, you’re just a CCP stooge according to our Trump supporting posters. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/57 "2020-03-20T00:46:13Z")
Popular news media call it the Wuhan Virus. Science calls it SARS-CoV-2. The WHO and CDC refer to the disease caused by it as Covid-19. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/58 "2020-03-20T00:50:57Z")
The people who think “Wuhan virus” is a real name also think “partial birth abortion” is a real medical procedure. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/59 "2020-03-20T01:09:41Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > Nope, you’re just a CCP stooge according to our Trump supporting posters. You know, I was going to lash out. Was really, REALLY angry for even the implication that I support Trump in any way, shape or form. But it’s just so fucking ridiculous that I ended up bursting out with laughter. This is the best you can do? Try and deflect to ‘Trump supporting posters’? And you get a pass for this around here. That’s pretty hilarious. Sad too though. This place is just not the place I used to love to come to and post once upon a time… ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/60 "2020-03-20T01:12:04Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > The people who think “Wuhan virus” is a real name also think “partial birth abortion” is a real medical procedure. No one with half a brain calls it that, but that really isn’t the point. The real point is, idiots should be able to call it that if they want without calling it racism, and the only reason it IS being called racism is because it’s the strategy of the CCP. And it’s such a fucking obvious strategy to anyone paying any sort of attention that it makes me wonder…are people? :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807.md?page=4)