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On Wednesday, June 17, Uyghur rights activists around the world celebrated as President Trump signed the “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” into law after it was near-unanimously passed by both houses of Congress. According to the Uyghur Human Rights Project, it is the first law anywhere in the world to address the unconscionable human rights abuses being enacted against the Uyghurs in China. For years, the Chinese government has been abducting, isolating, and brainwashing innocent people because of their religious beliefs. In March, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released an explosive report revealing a sickening new twist to the terrifying saga: many of these already-tortured Uyghurs are being rented as slave labor to Chinese manufacturers producing products for well-known American companies. These heinous acts against the Uyghurs have been continuing for years, and the world has only recently started to pay attention. While this legislation is a big deal for raising awareness and putting pressure on China, the law itself is not a full solution. At this stage, it imposes some sanctions and requires various government entities to monitor and report on the situation. This could lead to more direct action down the line, but for now, private companies and mainstream institutions must step up and act responsibly to help. Many of you have already joined us in calling on Apple to stop working with factories that employ the forced Uyghur labor, but if you haven’t, please do. Many of you also joined us in calling on American foundations and universities to stop investing their endowments in Chinese companies that provide the tech used to carry out these atrocities. You further helped us call out the NBA when they took a stand on American equality issues while turning a blind eye to China’s.  We will keep a close eye on the situation, but we implore every American company that does any kind of business with China to make absolutely sure that they are not participants in this oppression. Ignorance is no longer an excuse or a defense.  New Tolerance Campaign is proud to be a part of the progress being made to address the Uyghur situation in China. But, for the million-plus Uyghurs living this horrifying reality every day, progress isn’t coming fast enough. We must do everything we can to end their suffering now, and part of that means pushing those with the power to coerce the Chinese government, like Apple and the NBA, to act quickly and decisively.

The past couple of months have been hard, but there have also been bright spots as people from all walks of life have stepped up to support healthcare workers, give to those in need, or just make the simple choice to stay home. One such act of service came from the charitable organization Samaritan’s Purse, which set up and staffed an entire tent hospital in Central Park. They partnered with Mount Sinai Hospital to provide care to over 350 COVID-19 patients when the main hospital ran out of beds. In response,  federal, state, and local officials scorned the group over some of their religious beliefs, begrudgingly taking their assistance before running them out of town as soon as they felt the worst of the virus had passed.  Samaritan’s Purse is an evangelical aid organization with a record of providing help where it is needed most. Its current homepage features stories about the team helping with tornado recovery in Tennessee, caring for mothers and babies in war-torn South Sudan, and providing clean water to the Bahamas. Its most well-known program is “Operation Christmas Child,” which provides Christmas presents to millions of impoverished children in over 150 countries. So why the animosity? Samaritan’s Purse is staunchly conservative Christian, and employees must sign a statement of faith that includes defining marriage as heterosexual-only. Furthermore, the organization’s leader Franklin Graham has repeatedly and unapologetically made strongly anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim comments.  On May 1, NYC City Council Speaker Corey Johnson put out a statement in which he called Graham “notoriously bigoted” and “hate-spewing” and said the group’s “continued presence” in New York “is an affront to our values of inclusion” and “painful for all New Yorkers who deeply care about the LGBTQ community.” After explaining that Good Samaritan was tolerated for a brief amount of time out of the City Council’s commitment “to supporting [health care system] workers and protecting our city’s public health,” he went on to demand that “Mount Sinai must sever its relationship with Samaritan’s Purse.”  Why? Because “[its] leader calls the LGBTQ community ‘detestable’ and ‘immoral.’ Not because the pop-up hospital refused to service members of LGBTQ community (they saw patients regardless of sexual orientation), and not because the NY healthcare system returned to normal operation (it remains under unusual strain). Speaker Johnson has every right to disagree with Graham and his organization, but there is a double standard when he calls those who put themselves at risk to save the lives of strangers while asking nothing in return an “affront to the community.” Pursuing tolerance is admirable, but pursuing tolerance so far in one direction that you become intolerant in another is not. At that point, you’ve gone from tolerance to tribalism. Johnson’s inability to accept the help of Samaritan’s Purse during the COVID-19 pandemic, of all situations, on behalf of others in desperate need, puts him squarely within the later.  Thankfully, not every New Yorker took Johnson’s stance. One man who strongly disagrees with Graham on many issues still found something in common with the group: the need to help people. He became one of the pop-up hospital’s best volunteers. His story is worth a read because it illustrates a critical lesson that Johnson has missed: as we fight intolerance, we must make sure we don’t become intolerant in the process ourselves. Photo courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse

This week, we asked our Facebook followers what they had learned or observed about tolerance during the pandemic. The answers were overwhelmingly pessimistic. Commenters expressed frustration with the new battle between people who want to re-open the country as soon as possible and those who want to extend stay-at-home measures until the pandemic has been well and truly defeated. They have a point. Social media and talk shows are rife with vitriolic exchanges between people accusing each other of wanting to sacrifice grandma to Wall Street, or on the other side, of being tyrants who don’t care about people being able to feed their families.  It’s an emotional time. People are dying, and the stories out of overwhelmed hospitals in places like Italy and New York City are heartbreaking and terrifying. On the other hand, people are struggling to afford the necessities. They are watching businesses that they’ve poured themselves into shuttering. They fear a lengthy depression where people aren’t able to support their families. The harsh truth is that almost anything worth doing involves risk. Car accidents claimed 38,800 lives in the United States last year. Contagious diseases have been killing us long before coronavirus showed up. Yet, we still choose to drive and attend crowded events. As individuals, it’s only natural that we have a wide variety of opinions on how much risk we’re willing to accept. We are going to disagree, and disagree passionately. However, we have a choice on how we express our disagreement. The choice to reopen and the choice to remain closed both have heartbreaking consequences. Calling someone heartless, stupid, or tyrannical for daring to take a stand doesn’t help anyone. Framing the situation as black and white is dishonest. Issuing arrest warrants for journalists who disagree with you is definitely the wrong approach (you can join our latest campaign to send that message to Liberty University).   Let’s all agree on three things:  COVID-19 is a serious threat Every human life is valuable Every day we remain shut down increases hardship and struggle  If we keep those basic truths in mind and approach each other with empathy and compassion, we can have an honest, constructive conversation about how to move forward. We can use this tough time to bring us closer together (even as we remain six feet apart). Finally, while there is far too much negativity circulating, let’s not miss all the good that’s happening. Neighborhoods are creating Facebook groups and using other online forums to meet local needs while major national charities have stepped up to feed thousands and even set up a functional hospital in Central Park. Restaurants are providing free food to healthcare workers, and distilleries are cranking out hand sanitizer to donate. Certain corners of the internet and TV shows that use conflict to get ratings will convince you of the worst. For our nation’s future and for your personal sanity, make a point of taking the time to seek out the best.

Much airtime has been given to the fight over how we refer to the virus that is turning the entire world upside down. One faction strongly opposes any China references, claiming it increases racism against people of Chinese and other Asian descent. Another faction has doubled down on calling it the “Chinese virus”, or more creatively, the “Kung Flu”, insisting that we must not forget that China should be held accountable for its part in the outbreak. But is the truth mutually exclusive? To at least to some degree, the Chinese government hid the true nature of the outbreak from the rest of the world, and it’s true that the Chinese people have been targeted outside China. The truth about how the virus started and why it spread so quickly has yet to be fully elucidated. However, we do know that the Chinese government initially silenced whistleblowers, that they sent bad test kits to other countries, and according to U.S. intelligence, they have been continuously downplaying their own death and infection numbers. These appalling acts are not out-of-character for this government either. They have imprisoned hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of innocent Uyghurs for their religious beliefs and then sent them off to factories to be used essentially as slave labor (NTC has run several campaigns in the hopes of relieving at least some of their suffering). They have responded to peaceful Hong Kong protests with extreme violence. Their surveillance and treatment of their entire citizenry is nothing short of dystopian. This oppressive government deserves far more scrutiny than it has received. At the same time, discriminatory conduct against Chinese Americans, and Asian Americans in general, have anecdotally increased since the outbreak reached the United States, and statistics on race-related crimes, when they are available, are likely to confirm the trend. It is especially egregious when the racism is directed by, and towards, children. There has been a flood of stories of Asian children experiencing bullying and rejection from their peers. While some bullies may have just been looking for an opportunity to be cruel, others are likely acting out of true fear or misunderstanding. That is absolutely something we as a society must correct. America has a history of tragedy bringing us closer together. Despite many acting with compassion in the face of the COVID pandemic (NTC recently ran campaigns in support of several of these good Samaritan projects), others have turned this into another opportunity to vilify each other. The solution is to keep perspective on the real villains and victims. We must deal with China’s government harming its own people and the world. We must also proactively stand up for victims of discrimination and racism and make sure our children know better. Those are both big tasks, and changing the name of the virus will not accomplish either.