Crisis is a cruel teacher. During times of crisis, when people let their guard down, we get to see what’s really behind the facade. Often, it’s not pretty.

That point was made painfully clear when, rather than taking the opportunity to unite and embrace a rising spirit of generosity and togetherness emanating around the globe, the president of the United States made a choice to sow division, publicly labeling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus.”

For many, this persistent mischaracterization has shattered any remaining hope that maybe, this time, we could do better. But for African people like me, who have witnessed the same phenomenon of attaching a disease to a nationality or ethnicity, it’s not a shock. Besides the virus itself, the only novel thing is that it’s now Asia, and not Africa, that has fallen victim to this malicious xenophobia.

African people have endured what we might call the viralization of our continent, even our own bodies, for decades. A host of terrible maladies, Ebola among the most prominent, have been designated as “African diseases” in the collective consciousness.