Dear Aarush and Aayra,
"Mom I am not going to use this. This is made in China. Why have you brought this? You should not buy anything which is made in china. They spread COVID 19". Knock! Knock! It is a wake-up call for me. These are the exact words that you, my dear ten-year-old son said to me when I gave you colors for Holi. But you still used them saying It's ok they are Holi colors. Now, whenever you watch television and if there is some news related to Chinese people you say "we should boycott them" and in the same evening you watch Chinese movies saying they are funny. This made me realize two important things first, even I didn't say it to you ever but you are sounding like a xenophobic, I hope this ends soon. And second is that whatever the case is when it comes to your interest your rules tend to change.
This is a very crucial time for the whole world. COVID 19 is spreading everywhere. Whenever there is a threat, different personalities of people can be seen. Some of them will emerge as fighters and help others too some of them emerge as blamers they don't do anything but try to put the blame of failures on others. In this current situation too, everyone is blaming a particular set of people for this pandemic. The irony is this particular set of people doesn't belong to one place they are already living in different countries, in fact, they are the residents, but in this time of crisis, everyone looks at these people as a threat and behaves badly with them. This actually is resulting in xenophobia.
Xenophobia is fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners. This phobia is spreading everywhere. When we go to the market to buy essentials it is obvious one gets scared looking at other people especially if their looks are similar as of Chinese. Actually right now the situation is such where everyone is scared of anyone who is a stranger or a foreigner.
Xenophobia is different from Racism. Racism is a broader spectrum. Xenophobia could be a starting point to it but it is debatable that it could lead to racism or not. Xenophobia is a phobia that could be present or develop in any person in such situations the world is facing right now. Racism is more of a social evil that is sadly present in the world and also quite permanent in nature. Xenophobia is a personal phobia that varies from person to person whereas racism belongs to a particular group. A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined by excessive fear of a thing or situation. One could get rid of it easily and sometimes with a lot of difficulties. Xenophobia which I think most of the people are facing now is more likely to be temporary because of the situation in the world.
There are chances where we might face such situations in the future also. For this one needs to be prepared in every way and needs to learn how to cope with this phobia. First and foremost tell yourself:
Whatever is happening is nobody's fault.
This time too shall pass.
There will be a new day tomorrow.
Fight together not against each other.
I am just scared everything will be fine.
I am being loved so I should love all.
I should help as much as I can.
Good Luck!!
This post is a part of Blogchatter’s A2Z challenge, #BlogchatterA2Z on the alphabet 'X'. My theme for this challenge is ‘Letters to My Kids, learnings of life I want them to know when they grow up’. You can also look for the same under #jainnehas or @jainneha86 on Instagram and Twitter
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A great example of how to explain something with closeness. Nice post!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot.
DeleteRacism is not exactly xenophobia, you are right. Xenophobia is the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners, whereas racism has a broader meaning set including "a belief that racial differences produce the inherent superiority of a particular race." For example as the white people feel superior to the black. I liked how you explained a difficult thing in simple words.
ReplyDeleteBTW We wrote similar posts today. My post is an attempt to curate the various xenophobic incidents that are happening in the world post covid pandemic. If you have time, do drop by. I would like to know your feedback.
Simple words are all I know. Art of playing with words is yet to learn. Thanks for stopping by and writing such beautiful comments.
Delete