As the world declares open season on China, be sure not to wrongly point the arrow on the Chinese PEOPLE.

There is a distinction. The state is the not people. In the midst of our growing frustrations and anger at the current state of affairs, this distinction can be easily blurred. We have to be careful where to point our fingers, if fingers are to be pointed.

As the world continues to rage war on the new virus, which, along the way, has gathered many unfortunate but often politically-driven and misguided names such as the “Chinese Virus” or the “CCP Virus”, resentment is growing in many parts of the world, including in my own backyard. Many such resentment, sadly, is increasingly placed against the Chinese people in general and, for lack of an obvious distinction, ALL Asians.

Unhappy times breeds anger and resentment. I get that.

People need to vent. They need an outlet. That I am aware.

But we all know that is not an excuse. Luckily, the majority of the good people in our country gets that. I know that for a fact, having lived here for the majority of my life and thoroughly enjoyed how multicultural, for the most part, this city and this country has been.

I am not here to talk about racism. That is the easy tag line towards any optically-racially-related incidents in our society. But tagging such a general and politically-correct label on the topic, and  touting the simple and diplomatic remark of how “racism will not be tolerated in our society”, although noble and needed reminded of, solves little.

I am here to talk about misplaced anger. And how that blurs the lines between poor judgement and racism, and how, if allowed to propagate, can tear our society apart in such a way that a simple political statement of “stopping racism” cannot repair.

For hate and anger, once brewed, only continue to grow on the inside. And even if suppressed, often become a nidus of infection, much like an indolent virus, waiting for the opportunity to resurface and boil over.

And for that, I am getting increasingly concerned about the potentially unintended consequences as politicians, especially in America, upon stabilizing their internal affairs, begin broadcasting their anger towards China, the nation. All the while, many of their avid listeners, keenly holding on to their every word, might widely interpret their messages simply, as anger towards Chinese, the people.

Sadly, for in America, while still in the midst of a raging infectious disease war, is also in the escalating stages of a raging political war. At the helm, a politically-insensitive president who is prepared to do and say whatever he needs to be re-elected. And one of his current playing cards, perhaps as part of his potentially winning hand, is to direct the suffering of the American people towards an easily identifiable target: China. He is a master of the political arena, and of the vulnerable American people’s emotions. I suspect that he is all too ready to turn his people’s despair into an emotional rally cry towards a potentially triumphant campaign. 

But sadly, it would appear, that even his opponent, Mr. Biden, whom I would have normally expected a more diplomatic approach, have equally identified this to be the correct angle to wage his political battle. For he, too, has clearly expressed his desire to unleash his diplomatic fury at the Chinese government.

So, deserving or not, in the next few months, we will be hearing a lot of strongly worded rhetorics against the Chinese nation. From both sides, among many other smaller voices.

To be clear, I, too, am angry at how this whole thing unfolded. As a front line health worker, I am perhaps at the most deserving spot of being angry at this outbreak. I also want accountability. I also want transparency.

But in the midst of all these rhetorics, I am afraid it will be the Chinese people who will suffer most.

For again, while there is a clear distinction, I am afraid that the general public will simply not be able to differentiate when we are raging a war on a government, and not instead against the people.

Very easily, therefore, if we are not careful, those very people, would become the mislabeled image of the enemy.

We can not allow that to happen.

We have to be smart in reading the messages carefully. We have to be smart in not letting their rhetorics drive our emotions. The speakers may not all be polished and crafted. Us, the listeners, will have to be held to a higher standard.

We have to remember what our values are, in our society, and of the people who helped built this society.

We have to control the outlet of our sadness, our suffering, and our anger.

Indeed, we all hate the virus. We hate the situation we are in.

But none of us, ever, should hate the people who this virus is here to infect, no matter where such infection happened.