In addition to infecting over 120,000 people worldwide and claiming over 4,500 deaths, the Covid-19 outbreak has led to two things: panic and xenophobia.
Some run to supermarkets to stock up on toilet paper and soya sauce, while others degrade Chinese nationals just because the virus happened to originate there.
One Belgian high school has taken this xenophobia to new heights, however, with a class photo so racist you won’t believe it’s from 2020.
Dutch Students Wearing ‘Chinese Clothes’ & Holding A Sign Saying ‘Corona Time’
The class photo featured 19 students in ‘traditional Chinese’ costumes with the exception of two students, of course, who were dressed as pandas. Because when you want to be racist, there is no half-assing it.
As Mothership reported, most of the students were wearing conical straw hats with their outfits, which are stereotypically associated with Asian farmers.
And to top it all off, the students held up a sign that said “Corona time”, with one donning blue latex gloves and a face mask.
These guys are going to go far in life.
But no, that wasn’t enough. One girl even did the slant-eye gesture.
According to Nextshark, the post was reportedly planned by senior students who had chosen a “Chinese theme” to celebrate their last 100 days in school — a yearly tradition.
And it was a coincidence that it was during the same period that China saw the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. And so, the students added the sign and face masks given that context.
Of course, because outdated racism is not acceptable.
Join our telegram channel for more entertaining and informative articles at https://t.me/goodyfeedsg or download the Goody Feed app here: https://goodyfeed.com/app/
And It Was Uploaded On The School Site
The photo was uploaded to their school website and social platforms before being taken down.
But the internet had already seen it, and it was too late; the slamming had begun.
One Chinese woman, Rui, who was born and raised in the Netherlands criticised the school for “making fun of [Chinese] culture”.
According to Rui, the school claims that they are a school where they help young people to grow to be wise respectful, responsible, committed, and social.
School apologised
The campus director issued a statement apologising for the incident on Wednesday (11 March), according to a Dutch newspaper.
He also added that the school management and students did not intend to hurt anyone with that photo.
“We did not estimate the consequences of publishing this picture correctly and we regret having offended certain population groups by it.”
Is it really possible that they thought Chinese people would be fine and dandy after seeing this photo?
Now, it’s understandable to be upset about the Covid-19 situation, but that’s no reason to turn on Chinese people as a whole or any other country for that matter.
