Thread by @RetroReport

1/ @WHO says terms like #ChineseVirus can unfairly stigmatize Asian Americans during #COVID19. Scapegoating immigrants during disease outbreaks, from malaria to smallpox to leprosy, has a long #history.

2/ Scapegoating was apparent in 1900 during an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco, a disease that was carried throughout the city by rats.

3/ But officials quarantined only the residents of Chinatown, who were unfairly blamed for starting the outbreak. The quarantine was lifted after a court ruled it had been imposed with an “evil eye and unequal hand.”

4/ Today, with reports of physical and verbal attacks against Asian and Chinese Americans rising, the @CDCgov issued guidelines clarifying that people of Asian descent are not at greater risk of spreading #COVID19 than other Americans.