Organizers have postponed a Lunar New Year celebration that was planned for Saturday at NorthPark Center, citing sensitivity to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak that originated in China. But the decision sparked criticism online from people who say the explanation for it was unclear.
The Crow Museum of Asian Art of the University of Texas at Dallas, which sponsors the event, and NorthPark Center announced the postponement in a joint statement Thursday.
“Mindful of the current and evolving health crisis in China, and aligned with other communities across the nation, the Crow Museum of Asian Art of the University of Texas at Dallas and NorthPark Center have decided to postpone the planned celebrations,” the statement said.
The rapidly spreading coronavirus, which has sickened almost 10,000 people worldwide and killed more than 200, prompted the World Health Organization to declare the situation a public health emergency Thursday, a step matched by the U.S. on Friday.
“The postponement is disappointing, but it didn’t seem appropriate, or respectful, to celebrate during this time,” said Amy Lewis Hofland, the museum’s senior director.
She did not say when the celebration — which was to include martial arts demonstrations, dancers and other arts activities — might be rescheduled or whether it would be canceled. Similar celebrations have been scrapped in other cities, including Paris, Sacramento and Palo Alto.
“In light of the evolving situation, we will determine a new date when we have more information,” Hofland said.
David Gu, chair of the Crow’s Chinese New Year host committee, said the decision also reflected health concerns because of the possibility that Chinese tourists visiting Dallas might attend.
“We would have liked to have a celebration, no question,” he said. “At the same time, that’s hard to control, and we want to be safe and cautious. Especially with visitors, going to the mall is a very common thing.”
He said other area events have been canceled or postponed, such as Saturday’s U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce’s annual Chinese New Year banquet at Addison’s Renaissance Hotel, which was expected to draw 1,000 attendees.
A post announcing the NorthPark event’s cancellation on the mall’s Instagram account drew comments criticizing and discussing the move that were quickly deleted, with comments on the post eventually disabled altogether. Asked why comments had been deleted, NorthPark’s marketing director, Kristen Gibbins said: “Thank you for your call” and hung up.
Some people on social media complained that postponing the celebration was excessive and xenophobic.
Dallas publicist Teresa Nguyen, who was among those whose comments on NorthPark’s Instagram account were deleted, said the initial lack of a clear explanation for the move was irresponsible.
“It’s not transparent, and there’s not a public conversation that’s happening, and there needs to be,” she said.
The lack of a clear explanation, she said, fuels fears and prompts speculation that the move is only because Chinese people might attend.
Nguyen said she had attended or organized five Lunar New Year festivals in the last week “and there was no talk or fear of people not wanting to attend because we might catch something.”
“It’s so upsetting,” she said. “We’re going back 30 years.”
Dave Ramsey, who runs a video production company in Dallas and grew up in China and Hong Kong, also questioned the postponement.
“If they’re going to cancel a Chinese Lunar New Year festival, they should just close the whole mall if they’re truly concerned about it,” said Ramsey, who noted that the flu has presented a more deadly danger in the U.S. this year than coronavirus. “It doesn’t seem right to me at all.”
The first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of coronavirus was confirmed Thursday. The man who got the virus is married to a Chicago woman in her 60s who got sick after she returned from a trip to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the crisis.
In their jointly issued statement, the mall and museum said: “Our goal has always been to deliver a wonderfully inclusive, family-friendly event that showcases and elevates Asian cultures. We look forward to collaborating on future festivals that will be enjoyed by visitors from North Texas and beyond.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
