Month: April 2020

I was standing at my kitchen window early Wednesday morning and noticed how much bluer the sky looked. That was before I realized that it was Earth Day and heard reports on the morning news that the air quality in Los Angeles had gone from among the worst in the world to among the best. The reason was that we were not driving as much. So true. The last time I filled up my tank was February 26, 2020 and I still have half a tank remaining. COVID-19 has uncovered a lot about our lifestyles that if taken to heart could propel us toward a whole new America.

It has become apparent that fewer people on the road everyday improves our air quality and thereby also improves our health. Many of us have learned that we can do much if not all of our jobs from home. Perhaps a new normal after we get through this crisis will be a change in the expectation that everyone has to show up at the office everyday. I could easily see myself working from home three of the five days each week, saving gas, freeing up parking spaces, reducing traffic, and contributing to cleaner air and reduced carbon emissions.

Another issue COVID-19 has brought to light is the lunacy of our employer-based healthcare system. As people lose their jobs, we see that they are also losing their health insurance and therefore their access to healthcare. I heard the heartbreaking stories of people losing their jobs and with it losing their employer-based healthcare and now having to choose between lifesaving medications and food for their families. This system is obviously broken and not serving us well. We need to get to Medicare for all immediately. Perhaps employers can take those funds they currently pay in health benefits and contribute towards a combination of raises for employees to cover their new premiums and to the Medicare system directly.

And then there is the need for greater internet bandwidth throughout the country and in my own neighborhood in particular. It became a reality for me these past few weeks as the internet became slower, unstable, and even crashed throughout the day on Friday. It was a frustration that made Zoom meetings difficult and access to shared work networks impossible. It took up to 10 minutes to log into some websites I use only for the connection to be lost over and over again. We have the need and opportunity to improve here.

And finally, this pandemic has revealed the absolute incompetency and dangerous behaviors of president Trump. Thankfully, his polls are finally falling as his supporters and those who never paid attention see him out there not only lying about his administration’s slow response and his suggestion of ridiculous remedies like drinking or injecting disinfectant directly into the human body. November might finally rid us of Donald Trump.

COVID-19 is showing us where change is not only possible, but necessary and even desirable. We could and should have a whole new America if we are smart.

My strong affinity for Asian dramas all started about a year and a half ago when one of my students returned from studying abroad in China and commented about how he enjoyed a Chinese television drama on Netflix called, “Meteor Garden”. Having traveled extensively throughout China myself and with my daily advising of so many Chinese students, I thought it might be nice to get acquainted with China’s more modern culture and college setting through an entertaining story about Chinese college students–the population I deal with daily. So, I watched all 52 episodes, three times!

The first time through, I was put off by behaviors we would never tolerate as college administrators. But I loved the story and found myself more understanding of the family pressures my students experience. While watching, I found myself full of emotional ups and downs. I laughed and cried as characters and situations evolved. There were times when I was utterly appalled by the villains who worked to tear young lovers apart and then grew to understand and empathize with their motives. I was hooked. First, I was fascinated by the cultural values on display, the difference in family dynamics, the popular Chinese music, the scenery, and the few Chinese phases I came to recognize. I ended up downloading the musical soundtrack for “Meteor Garden” and watched the music videos on YouTube. I came to realize that Dylan Wang, the male lead is a popular rock artist in China. Other students told me that the show was a Chinese remake of a Korean drama, “Boys Over Flowers”.

I moved on to another popular Chinese television drama, again featuring Chinese college students. These were computer science students in “Love 020” involved in the gaming industry in China. It too, was a romance and featured the typical love triangle, the social-economic stratification, and the villains who eventually redeem themselves. It too became a favorite and I learned that the handsome male lead, Yang Yang, was also a popular singer and dancer in China. He dances much better than he sings. It was through watching some of his videos that I learned that black choreographers and musicians seem to act as musical mentors in China.

I’ve watched many Chinese television dramas on Netflix since then. My favorites are “Here to Heart”, “Single Ladies Senior”, A Love So Beautiful”, “I Hear You”, “Somewhere Only We Know”, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder”, “Unintended Love”, and “Diamond Lover”. Amazon Prime has them too, and I enjoyed “My Little Princess”, “Whirlwind Girl” and “Attack it, Lightning!”. I had to move to another streaming platform, “Rakuten Viki” to find more content and it was worth paying for a subscription to get rid of the commericals. I absolutely loved, “Go Go Squid” and I think I’ve watched all 42 episodes about five times. I’ve enjoyed the twelve episodes of a popular historical drama, “The Story of Yanxi Palace” that I learned about through its theme song. My students tell me that its a tragic story, so I’m waiting for a mood that will permit me to get through the entire saga. It’s so well done and the music is so beautiful. It was listening to JJ Lin sing the theme song (“The Sound of Snow Falling”) and its many music videos that led me to the drama on the Viki platform. I’ve since found the lyrics to the song and it is absolutely beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoy Chinese dramas although the Chinese government certainly has its fingerprints all over them and product placement is very evident. The level of nationalism is evident as personal ambition expressed by the main characters is always about bringing prominence to China and the Chinese on the world stage. Getting past that, the storytelling and music and learning about everything from gaming, international business, martial arts, cyber security, fencing, medicine, violin making, science, diamond design, or ice sports, movie making, and the culture and language itself is fun and eye-opening.

I started with China and then added Taiwanese and Korean dramas. But those reflections are for future posts.

I became upset listening to a Republican lawmaker, who is also a physician from Louisiana, explain why over 70% of the deaths from COVID-19 in his state were African American. As expected, he sited the higher prevalence of pre-existing conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma among the African American community. But when the interviewer tried to delve into the underlying reasons behind these pervasive conditions, the Republican refused to go there. He refused to acknowledge the role of governmental policies around health, urban pollution, education, wealth accumulation, criminal justice and discrimination that have hampered and continue to impede the progress of African Americans since slavery. Even when reminded of his role in Congress beyond medicine, he chose to ignore the root causes for the pre-existing health conditions that have made African Americans so vulnerable.

The continued legacy of the mindset behind slavery and Jim Crow is discrimination against African Americans in nearly every system in the country. Our inability to accumulate wealth is the result of longstanding and ongoing educational disparities, job discrimination, healthcare treatment disparities, housing discrimination, banking discrimination, environmental injustice, and criminal justice disparities. The most recent statistics show that in 2018 about 21% of African Americans lived below the poverty line compared to less than 12% of the general population. Poverty is stressful, destroys relationships, reduces access to life-sustaining needs like healthier foods, better education, basic preventative healthcare, adequate legal defense, clean air and water. It’s like the toxic circumstances African Americans are born into is a burden carried throughout life. For example, I’ve had asthma since I was 2 years old as a product of my early environment. I have high blood pressure like most African Americans in my family. These conditions coupled with being over 60 make me especially vulnerable to COVID-19 mortality.

But I’m not poor. I’m educated and have a job that has me working from home. I continue to get a paycheck. I can and am limiting my exposure. I consider myself lucky. But too many African Americans are not lucky. Many African Americans have either lost their jobs or have jobs working in places where they risk daily exposure to the virus. Without the proper protection, they are having to choose between a paycheck and their health. Too many are locked away in prison or jail and are being exposed against their will. Some, like that Republican doctor would be apt to blame African Americans for their poverty and risk factors.

To people like that Republican doctor, I would say that for African Americans to achieve stability in this country takes more determination, greater intelligence, higher levels of energy, and greater resilience and emotional intelligence than the average American. Most people are average in intelligence, stamina, and determination. To require a group of people to be superhuman to overcome the added roadblocks and obstacles placed in their way every day so that they can achieve what others achieve by just being average is unreasonable. Most of us are not exceptional. But that is what America expects today of every African American. And if we are not, then we are to blame for our blight.

Ours is a country that discriminates both institutionally and individually against African Americans. I know this first hand because I have experienced it all first hand. Everything from teachers who have to be forced to provide rigorous learning opportunities, to banks who require additional layers of scrutiny for loans, to employers who attempt to limit hiring, promotion, and pay, to nurses who under-estimate the pain of black women in labor. I’ve fought through all of these discriminatory practices multiple times. I know this is the reality of most of my African American friends and family.

So, this virus is coming for the vulnerable. The sad thing is that African Americans have been made vulnerable by our society. When people blame the victim like this Republican congressman did, I don’t see this current reality as any different from when the government sanctioned the distribution of blankets with Smallpox among Native American populations. The result is the same, the eradication of an undervalued minority group.

My husband injured his hip and needed medical help this week. With fear of COVID-19, he didn’t want to go to the doctor’s office and thankfully his doctor isn’t seeing patients in the office anyway. He learned from the receptionist that the appointment would be by teleconference to which my husband expressed anxiety. Being chronically “old school” in just about everything, he’s never used Skype or Zoom or any kind of social media platform. The receptionist asked if there was anyone in his home who could assist him with the set up when the time came? I spoke up and told him to respond by saying, “yes”. The appointment went off without a hitch. We have the internet, wifi, a blood pressure machine, a scale, and a thermometer. He reported his own vitals and symptoms to the doctor and after responding to a lot of questions, he secured both a diagnosis and a prescription. This whole incident got me thinking about what could lie ahead once we are on the other side of this pandemic.

We now understand that having access to a smart phone and laptop, high speed internet, and wifi are essential infrastructure items in the world today. This infrastructure allows students to continue with school, it allows many people to continue working, it allows online banking, it allows families and friends to connect anywhere in the world, and it allows patients to reach doctors remotely. Moving forward, we can use this infrastructure to save time and more importantly we can reduce our driving and gas emissions. I already do my banking online and most of my shopping with the exception of most groceries is also done online. But that, too, can easily change. With this rapid change in our physical distancing, it’s clear that our most pressing infrastructure needs have also changed.

In this world where disaster looms around every corner, Congress should invest in technological infrastructure that reaches across every corner of the country to increase both access and our overall bandwidth moving forward. We need these virtual roads and bridges as much as the physical roads and bridges that we collectively pay for with local and federal tax dollars. Every low income student and senior should be provided with a laptop and smartphone as an essential items. Access to the internet should be publicly paid for just as libraries and schools are. There are savings and efficiencies to be realized without reducing effectiveness if we maintain some of the services online that this pandemic has necessitated. Medicare would do well to provide low income seniors with thermometers, scales and blood pressure machines to help make this possible.

I envision a new normal once we get past this pandemic where conference rooms (not offices), restaurants, theaters, churches, parks, sports arenas, gyms, and concerts are social gathering places. Learning, office work, most doctor’s visits, banking and shopping can all be done at home and perhaps for fewer hours in the day, freeing up time for socializing and truly enjoying life. This pandemic has opened my eyes to this new possibility. And I like it. It would take some getting used to, but the savings on child care, on gas emissions, and on stressful commutes to work might be worth it.

During this pandemic I have been grateful that we have a home gym, computers, smartphones, an internet connection, password protected wifi, a pantry full of food, water, and toilet paper. What we don’t have is a personal generator to keep it all going in case of a blackout or other natural disaster. That’s on my new shopping list for this new unpredictable world we’re living in. Of course, my capable husband will research and purchase the most appropriate one for us on Amazon and it will be delivered right to our front door within two days.