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Let's talk about racism. Have you seen any messages or memes that you thought were racist or offensive? If so, talk about what you've seen or heard.

<strong> I'm choosing to write about this issue because this is the first time I'm hearing that there's a racist component to discourse about COVID! </strong> I suppose I shouldn't be shocked because so many things are interpreted through a racist lens when it comes to medicine as well as so many other issues.<strong> Living in France where no one talks overtly about race, though, has kept me in a bubble</strong>--and I would say that<strong> here, at least in the media and public discourse, race is really not at all discussed as playing any role in the pandemic,</strong> beyond the context of socio-economic disparity (e.g. the virus spreading more quickly in the banlieue where large families live in close proximity to one another; the children in those areas being worse affected by school closing/online learning)--which, of course, often correlates with race. The<strong> only connection</strong> to race that I've heard has come <strong> from the Indian community, where people are speculating about a magic/mythic South Asian gene</strong> that can help protect against catching the virus or mitigate its effects.