No Chinese should be surprised by coronavirus-inspired racism

Schadenfreude, or the feeling of pleasure at someone’s misfortune, is such a useful word that many non-German speakers borrow it even when they are writing in their own languages. I have, lately, been experiencing what may be its inversion – the feeling of pleasure at one’s own misfortune. It’s too bad that I don’t know if there is a single word, German or otherwise, for that. If any reader knows, please enlighten.

A pessimist, I have long harboured a suspicion that the multiculturalism and racial tolerance many Western countries profess to practise are no more than a facade that will slip off when faced with real interests, conflicts or collective fears.

I know it’s masochistic, but I feel a sense of “I told you so” satisfaction, painful as it is, to read about reports of harassment, discrimination, public humiliation and even violence, against Chinese or Asian-looking people around the world ever since the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Seriously, eight deaths linked to the virus outside the mainland; and we Chinese have practically been accused of bringing on Armageddon!

Chinese are mocked for wearing masks in Vancouver. In Sheffield, a Chinese postgraduate student was harassed in the street for wearing a face mask. In Leicestershire, two students were mistaken to be Chinese and pelted with eggs. The Guardian newspaper has reported “shocking levels of racism” despite there being only nine cases in Britain.