# 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:** 4
**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, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/61 "2020-03-20T01:19:06Z")
It’s also obvious what the Trump administration and conservative media is doing by purposefully calling it a foreign virus and by crossing out Corona yo replace it with China. You can’t see the virtue signalling coming from your side, and I get it it’s hard. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/62 "2020-03-20T01:33:02Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > 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. It is statistically possible you do not personally know anybody from Wuhan (but do you know where everybody you run into is from?), yet, equally, maybe you happen to not know anybody from New York City either. (Of course NYC is in America and Wuhan isn’t, but there is no shortage of immigrants and tourists.) Maybe it’s not Shanghai but either way we are not talking about some uninhabited valley. But what I wanted to say ISTM the “popular media” are talking about “coronavirus” (where have people seen “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus”??), and even many anti-Chinese racists are, though I wonder what the latter have to say about Italy. ---
**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, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/63 "2020-03-20T01:34:33Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > It’s also obvious what the Trump administration and conservative media is doing by purposefully calling it a foreign virus and by crossing out Corona yo replace it with China. > > You can’t see the virtue signalling coming from your side, and I get it it’s hard. They aren’t my side genius. 😛 I don’t give a flying fuck why Trump is saying whatever stupid shit he’s saying. My WAG is it has more to do with the CCP trying to say this came from the US (whether deliberately or not), but who the fuck knows why he says any of the shit he says. I doubt it’s because he’s a racist against the Chinese, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he was either. ---
**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, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/64 "2020-03-20T01:43:56Z")
> [@XT](#): > > No one with half a brain calls it that, but that really isn’t the point. I truly can’t tell if the word “it” in that sentence refers to “partial birth abortion” or “Wuhan virus.” ---
**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, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/65 "2020-03-20T02:25:04Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > 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. Which popular media? I can’t find it. ---
**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, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/66 "2020-03-20T02:28:13Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > It is statistically possible you do not personally know anybody from Wuhan (but do you know where everybody you run into is from?), yet, equally, maybe you happen to not know anybody from New York City either. (Of course NYC is in America and Wuhan isn’t, but there is no shortage of immigrants and tourists.) Maybe it’s not Shanghai but either way we are not talking about some uninhabited valley. > > But what I wanted to say ISTM the “popular media” are talking about “coronavirus” (where have people seen “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus”??), and even many anti-Chinese racists are, though I wonder what the latter have to say about Italy. I can’t tell what the point of your first paragraph is. I may know people from Wuhan and not know it, since I ln some Chinese immigrants. But, I had never heard of the city before this. I know people from NYC since I’m from there and work there. I agree with your second paragraph - I had never heard it called that until this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/67 "2020-03-20T02:46:18Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Which popular media? I can’t find it. Your google skills are lacking. I searched for 'examples of media saying ‘wuhan virus’, and this was the FIRST hit in my results: [Examples of media saying ‘Wuhan Virus’, ‘Chinese Coronavirus’, or ‘Wuhan Coronavirus’](https://youtu.be/5eZtCq1aj2g) I stopped counting at 20. ---
**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 20, 2020, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/68 "2020-03-20T03:14:15Z")
Misleading Trump propaganda video; all clipped out of context badly hiding that most were news reports about outbreaks of coronavirus IN Wuhan or China. Such trash. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/69 "2020-03-20T04:59:17Z")
I’ve a bit of geographical knowledge but I hadn’t heard of Wuhan or Hubei before last Xmas, just as I’d not heard of the Ebola River before it gained prominence. I didn’t blame Ebola on Zaire/Congo or Africans. Calling COVID “the Wuhan virus” triggers nothing in most. Calling it a Chinese or Asian virus (or stupidly, “flu”) HAS triggered vicious behavior toward perceived Asians, whether or not they have any remote connection to Hubei province. The orange terror and his Beijing playmates are trading blame, serving only to ramp-up the trade war, keep supply lines fragmented, and inhibit cooperation. How are America’s interests bolstered? Who beside Putin gains? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/70 "2020-03-20T04:59:30Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Misleading Trump propaganda video; all clipped out of context badly hiding that most were news reports about outbreaks of coronavirus IN Wuhan or China. Such trash. Indeed, :sigh: **Sam Stone** , what you got there was a Google Vomit, it does not show what you want, as **orcenio** noted, a lot of that was early and world organizations and most of the media moved on to most proper ways of mentioning the virus name. Going back on mistaken or less accurate naming is precisely made now just because they “have to own the libs”, but in reality is once again the bigoted blobiating of the current leadership that also wants to disparage what the experts are saying, it is also just par for the course of their usual anti-science, continuing to go for the remains of the past narrative, [the naming thing is just about the only bone that they can toss to their followers who have experienced a monumental whiplash thanks to what the dear leader was saying before from his position of authority.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gop-group-donald-trump-speech_n_5e6353dbc5b6670e72f887dc) > **[Trump’s new fixation on using a racist name for the coronavirus is dangerous](https://www.vox.com/2020/3/18/21185478/coronavirus-usa-trump-chinese-virus)** > > The president is stoking xenophobia with his rhetoric about the coronavirus. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/71 "2020-03-20T05:06:26Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > It’s also obvious what the Trump administration and conservative media is doing by purposefully calling it a foreign virus and by crossing out Corona yo replace it with China. > > You can’t see the virtue signalling coming from your side, and I get it it’s hard. the Chinese government screwed the entire planet with their secrecy and then blamed the US military. China owns this. Any attempt to deflect blame goes back on it’s leadership. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/72 "2020-03-20T05:12:50Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Did the virus originate here? Did Trump quash and expel the press? Does the US have a history of killing millions of its own citizens? Just keep your Trump mantra going. There is no equivalency between Trump and the CCP. What was the death rate of native Americans? While a white American, I lived in China from the mid 1980’s for close to 20 years. You have no idea what you’re talking about comrade. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/73 "2020-03-20T05:16:23Z")
This is pretty simple. South Korea reported its first case the same day the US did. Let’s repeat that for effect. South Korea reported its first case the SAME DAY the US did. Their response, no matter who to blame or what you call the virus, was vastly different from our own. And now that we are belatedly trying to make a competent response after literal weeks of denial and limited or no action, our leadership decides to change how it refers to the disease and claiming it has always considered this a pandemic. This is clearly gaslighting. You want to blame China for the initial outbreak? Whatever. But how we responded, or rather how we didn’t respond, once it did cross our borders is totally on us. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/74 "2020-03-20T05:20:47Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > the Chinese government screwed the entire planet with their secrecy and then blamed the US military. > > China owns this. Any attempt to deflect blame goes back on it’s leadership. Show me where Chairman Xi Jinping blamed the US on Covid 19? If some dork in the Trump admin or Republican congress critter or even beloved leader Trump shoots their mouth off, it’s just free speech. Some douche in China talks smack, and it’s official Chinese national conspiracy. Turn about is fair play, I can show you where Trump called it the [Chinese Virus](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=trump+chinese+virus&view=detail&mid=3017D441142B3318A6393017D441142B3318A639&FORM=VIRE). (Mao on a pogo stick, I never thought I’d have to explain this. Ain’t no love lost between me and the CCP, but eyes wide open.) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/75 "2020-03-20T05:41:15Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > the Chinese government screwed the entire planet with their secrecy and then blamed the US military. > > China owns this. Any attempt to deflect blame goes back on it’s leadership. It is very underwhelming to not realize that most authoritarian governments are usually good at screwing up. So, _it is not just Trump_. Still, it is not a good reason to fall for the idea that then what is happening in America is then allowed to get a pass, it is appalling that leadership in smaller nations like Taiwan are doing it better than the “I’m not responsible” guy. > **[How Taiwan and Singapore Have Contained the Coronavirus](https://slate.com/technology/2020/03/countries-contain-coronavirus-spread.html)** > > This is what we can learn from them. ---
**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, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/76 "2020-03-20T11:38:53Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Misleading Trump propaganda video; all clipped out of context badly hiding that most were news reports about outbreaks of coronavirus IN Wuhan or China. Such trash. Agreed there. What a bullshit cite that was. Wuhan coronavirus is a coronavirus that originated from Wuhan. Wuhan virus is like Lyme disease, named after the place it was first discovered or originated from. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/77 "2020-03-20T11:49:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Wuhan coronavirus is a coronavirus that originated from Wuhan. Wuhan virus is like Lyme disease, named after the place it was first discovered or originated from. No, that virus is called SARS CoV-2. WHO policy since 2015 is not to name viruses after places. ---
**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 20, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/78 "2020-03-20T12:00:00Z")
Second Republican senator Kelly Loeffler (R, GA) makes millions by dumping stocks and buying up teleconferencing securities after a secure briefing on the COVID-19 thread [link](https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-kelly-loeffler-dumped-millions-in-stock-after-coronavirus-briefing). Republicans were informed of the threat and chose to profit from it. That’s why they really, really want to refocus your attention on the name of the virus instead of the Republican’s disaster response strategy of mind-blowing graft and incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/79 "2020-03-20T13:04:49Z")
> [@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. CNN: “China’s massive security state is being used to crack down on the Wuhan virus” [https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/10/asia/china-security-police-wuhan-virus-intl-hnk/index.html](https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/10/asia/china-security-police-wuhan-virus-intl-hnk/index.html) Foreign Policy (owned by Washington Post) : “The Wuhan Virus Could Hurt the Party’s Legitimacy” > **[The Wuhan Virus Could Hurt the Party’s Legitimacy](https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/wuhan-coronavirus-hurt-chinese-communist-party-legitimacy/)** > > Local authorities are taking a bigger hit than the central government. Global Times, a media arm of the Chinese government: “Chinese netizens fear Japan would repeat Wuhan virus mistake at early stage” > **[Japan’s low virus control alert worries netizens - Global Times](https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1179921.shtml)** > > Video footage featuring hundreds of Japanese people gathering for the country's annual Quartz: “China’s Wuhan virus unfolds in new age of WeChat” > **[China’s coronavirus outbreak is unfolding in a new age of information—and...](https://qz.com/1790719/china-coronavirus-outbreak-unfolds-in-a-new-age-of-information)** > > People are much more digitally connected today than during the 2003 SARS outbreak. But they're also much more surveilled. And so on and so forth. In Taiwan the name commonly used is Wuhan Pneumonia: “The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that it would use the name “Wuhan pneumonia” when communicating with the public” > **[Virus Outbreak: CECC to continue using the ‘Wuhan pneumonia’ name - Taipei Times](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2020/02/13/2003730887)** > > Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan I guess the ethnically Chinese people of Taiwan suffer from internalized racism… The Chinese propaganda machine knew well that they only had to drop the R bomb to deflect criticism away from them, and it worked. ---
**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, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807/80 "2020-03-20T13:13:34Z")
Thanks! I disagree that it’s China’s doing that it’s called coronavirus or COVID-19, since I’ve been hearing those terms almost from the start. However, I appreciate that someone finally posted some cites (from February, but thanks!). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racism-and-wuhan-virus-only-because-wuhan-is-a-fairly-well-known-large-city/849807.md?page=5)