Titled \u201cDiscrimination and Social Exclusion in the Outbreak of COVID-19,\u201d the article coauthored by Professor He was published in April 2020 in in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper\u2019s goal was to \u201cdocument the observation and unexpected social outcomes of social exclusion and discrimination in the outbreak of COVID-19 across the world and inside of China.\u201d He\u2019s coauthors are Jun He, Wen Zhou, Xuanhua Nie, and Ming He of the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The scholars collected data from online surveys plus secondary sources such as descriptive data from newspapers and internet searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors quickly found a link between the \u201cmassive efforts\u201d to control the spread of the disease with instances of discrimination against Asians.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cDiscrimination and social exclusion has occurred in various forms,\u201d the scholars note. Just over 25 percent of respondents overseas experienced discrimination in the breakout of COVID-19, while 90 percent of respondents inside of China experienced discriminatory attitudes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper makes an “urgent call for the inclusiveness in policy and media in the face of this public health emergency,\u201d noting that \u201cdiscrimination and social exclusion can undermine efforts to identify, isolate and contain the transmission of the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The authors quickly found a link between the \u201cmassive efforts\u201d to control the spread of the disease through various methods, including lockdowns, with instances of discrimination against Asians. The scholars define discrimination as \u201cunjust treatment of, or making a distinction against a person based on group, class, race, age, sex or category to which that person belongs rather, than on individual merit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As early as January 2020, the scholars observed public cases of discrimination in the West against people of Asian descent \u2014 \u201con the bus, in shopping malls, on the street and on school campuses\u201d \u2014 from verbal abuse to violent attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wearing of facemasks was a flashpoint of such incidents early on, especially since wearing a facemask in the West was highly unusual prior to the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPrior to recent months, face mask-wearing had implied sickness in the West,\u201d the scholars wrote, whereas mask-wearing is ubiquitous in the \u201cdaily life of many Eastern Asian countries to an extent that it has even been viewed as a fashion statement. This cultural difference and the legacy of racism may have interacted to contribute to the increased discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Leshui](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2021\/03\/150825_Leshui_He_0008-crop-900x900.jpg\")
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