This is not concern trolling or virtue signalling. What you're doing is closer to both of those words than what the author did.
Especially if you read the two sentences that the author writes under that section. It's pretty damn tame. (and that's why I'm pretty sure you didn't based on your response)
I did read them and agree that they're tame. I just disagree with the constant narrative that the US is some disgustingly racist country, it's something that comes up more than racism.
I find virtue-signaling tiresome myself, but in this case I don't think the author was virtue-signalling or being an SJW. There are some real concerns around xenophobic responses around the world and I think the author wrote those words sincerely. Plus I don't think she was referring to the U.S. specifically.
When people are fearful, their higher executive functions become impaired, and it is exactly these executive functions that are needed to weigh the facts and to avoid impulse blaming, which in this context manifests in xenophobic behaviors.
All of us need occasional reminders to help us realize that we can rise above our baser survival instincts. We all impulse-blame -- that's just human nature, I do it too. But we can do better than that.
At no point was the author ever claiming that the US is a disgusting or racist country. At best, the author noted a minor uptick in racist acts as a result of corona, which is objectively true. You are projecting your concern about a narrative that the author is not contributing to.
Especially if you read the two sentences that the author writes under that section. It's pretty damn tame. (and that's why I'm pretty sure you didn't based on your response)