At our city council meeting last night, a resident made comments which I found to be xenophobic and demeaning.  I write today to say that our community cannot tolerate such insensitivity. 

During the Open Forum section of our agenda, the resident came to the microphone and said, "Given the cornonavirus crisis in China, I want to stand to request/demand a freeze on all Chinatown initiatives or attempts here to bring anything relating to that to North Miami because of the world-wide health crisis."

Because the comments were made over an open microphone in front of the council, the audience, and those watching on the TV and Internet, I feel the need to speak against them.  I am not naming the resident, however, so as not to cause her undue humiliation.

For those of you not familiar, the city has spent a great deal of effort to develop a Chinatown commercial district along our NW 7th Avenue corridor.  We are working to entice investment and spending in the area.

Obviously, we are all concerned about the spread of coronavirus.  We must not allow that fear, however, to lead us to disparage other nationalities or races.  Wherever the virus might have originated, it has now spread to several other countries.  The fact that it is indeed a widespread concern shows how out of line last night's comments were.

In the early 1980s, as HIV and AIDS spread, there were those who wrongly labeled Haitians and gays as being primary carriers of that virus.  As a result, immigrants and others were taunted and shunned.  In time, we would learn that anyone could catch the disease.  History can not be allowed to repeat itself in North Miami.

To end the spread of false information and fear-mongering, we must work together.