When we talk about nonsensical misuse of the term racism this piece from the WSJ should be the poster child by social justice warriors with nothing better to do. What exactly was the offending terminology used by Walter Russell Mead? It's not even clear was racial 1/n
The piece itself is relatively mundane generally accepted statements such as "The mighty Chinese juggernaut has been humbled this week, apparently by a species-hopping bat virus." and "We do not know how dangerous the new coronavirus will be." Hate filled stuff obviously 2/n
It goes on "China’s initial response to the crisis was less than impressive" and "China’s financial markets are probably more dangerous in the long run than China’s wildlife markets" The most "racial" thing he says is "So far, the 21st century has been an age of black swans" 3/n
So what specifically aroused the ire of Chinese social justice warriors to swing into action labeling the WSJ and Walter Russell Mead racist? Apparently the sub headline calling China "The Sick Man of Asia" and mentioning the wildlife markets. Neither of these come close 4/n
To meeting any reasonable standard for racist hate speech. I'm gonna let you in on a secret: China is in the middle being quarantined for being sick with a previously unknown virus. Was it grossly offensive or insensitive? Maybe overlapping with the economic with the health 5/n
Wasn't the best choice but lots of headlines talking about the health issues would then be considered racist. Furthermore, there was clearly no racial issue in the language or even implied. This is a common turn of economic phrasing that has been applied to many countries 6/n
So what about the wildlife markets? Chinese state media has covered these as the potential source of the outbreak repeatedly. It has published warnings about going to them and eating the types of animals that come from them. Mead did not dwell on them or mock China 7/n
There is nothing racist about it if the state media is publishing about them frequently and giving the same warnings about them. The problem with these faux outrage is that the real incidents, which do happen get obscured for the absurd feelings hurt syndrome. Done.
