| bocudihu |
Recently a couple threads came up in which COVID-19 was referred to as "china virus", etc. We determined it was best to remove the threads where this came up, but I wanted to be sure that we were open and clear about why those threads were removed, and why on our forums we will remove posts or threads and/or suspend accounts from folks who willfully continue to use the informal, racist names for COVID-19.
I wrote the following in another thread which has stayed open, but feel it bears repeating in a more visible place (with some updates):
How we refer to things like infectious diseases and pandemics does matter.
Over the last month I've been reading accounts from folks in my neighborhood and local social media groups, as well as my own friends, who've had encounters of racism, in actions or in words, directed at them. It breaks my heart to hear from my neighbors and loved ones how they feel unwelcome or unsafe in my local community, and to see reports from other areas of incidents as well: people.com "Racist Attacks Against Asians Continue to Rise as the Coronavirus Threat Grows"
I do not want folks from our own online community to come to paizo.com and experience something that makes them feel unwelcome or unsafe, or be reminded of the racism they may face in other areas of their lives. Paizo.com is supposed to be a place for our gaming community to come and connect and have fun or relax, we can help everyone get to enjoy a positive atmosphere by being conscientious of our language choices.
In 2015, the World Health Organization updated its guidelines for naming infection diseases: WHO issues best practices for naming new human infectious diseases.
Dr Keiji Fukuda wrote:This may seem like a trivial issue to some, but disease names really do matter to the people who are directly affected. We’ve seen certain disease...
Thank you Sara ;)