Month: March 2021

If the definition of oppression is about being unjustly subjected to unfair treatment or control, then what we are collectively witnessing across the country with regards to treatment of people of color by Republican state and federal legislators is oppression. It feels like Republican legislators aren’t listening to us and weirdly, they are working hard to ensure that we can’t get rid of them. They want to continue to impose their anti-public health, anti-environment, anti-science, and anti-social safety net agenda upon the majority of Americans. The events of this past week highlight the depth of their depravity.

While offering thoughts and prayers to hurting victims of gun violence, weather related events, or COVID-19 is the right thing to do, it is not nearly enough. Thoughts and prayers do not address the root of the problems nor do they provide reasonable solutions. At the center of my frustration are Republican Senators Ted Cruise, Mitch McConnel, and Rand Paul as well as a handful of Republican governors. Their cruelty and tone-deafness are an affront to my ears and have dire consequences for many. Their collective behavior is even more deplorable because they are not ignorant of the facts nor the suffering, but they continue to act counter to the best interest of Americans in spite of this knowledge. Their desire to hold onto power at the expense of screwing the majority of Americans in the process is mind boggling. They show by their words and actions that they will say anything and do anything to maintain the hegemony of wealthy white people and corporations.

At this very moment, these men and those in their party are acting to limit access to voting and to block any attempts at gun control. They want to continue to help the rich get richer while stepping on the necks of poor people and people of color. They stand between every reasonable public health measure like wearing masks, background checks for gun purchases, keeping automatic weapons off our streets, reasonable immigration policies, environmental protections, economic safety nets, and affordable healthcare. It is no surprise that not a single one of them voted for the American Recovery Act. And yet, their priority is to control the body of every American woman, protect the 2nd Amendment, appoint judges, and to give unneeded tax breaks to wealthy individuals and corporations.

I often ask myself why Republicans are so against voter access, reasonable gun laws, public health measures, raising the minimum wage, immigration reform, and protecting the environment and I repeatedly come up with the same reason. They want to maintain white supremacy and white majorities. They want to keep white people in the U.S. at the top of the economic and power food chain even if a handful of white people are also hurt in the process. And the best way to do maintain power is to block all legislation limits white people’s access to guns while killing a person of color who looks like he might have one. They want white folks armed because they may need them to forcefully maintain power one day. January 6th was just the beginning. It is also evident that they want to reduce the life expectancy of people of color by keeping them poor and limiting their access to healthcare and education while allowing greedy corporations to use poor areas as dumping grounds, poisoning poor people’s air and water. Knowing that people of color are more likely to die from COVID-19 because of the core morbidities caused by years of poverty and neglect, they refuse to impose mask mandates.

I am not surprised that white people are getting vaccinated faster than people of color. That too, is by design. And the fact that a black female lawmaker was arrested and dragged away in handcuffs in Georgia this week for simply knocking on the door of the Governor’s office and then charged with two felonies says everything we need to know about the criminal justice system.

As forty-three states work to legislate voter suppression laws designed specifically to limit voting among youth, poor, and people of color, I am glad that civil rights organizations are suing. I am also glad that community organizers are seeking to boycott corporations who do not publicly support free and fair election access. But we as voters need to be prepared to do our part as well.

The time to end oppression is now and the way forward is at the ballot box. We must be determined to vote no matter what obstacles Republicans place in front of us. This may mean making the necessary preparations ahead of time to secure the proper ID, to wait in a long line, bringing our own food and water bottles, saving to take off work or better yet, joining with other employees to implore employers to give time off to vote if necessary. We must ensure that our families and friends are registered and ready to vote in local, state and federal elections. This is how we will end the oppression of the majority by this hateful minority of Republicans over time.

If we want a better America where access to opportunity, health, safety, and justice is truly for all, then we must elect public officials who have our collective best interest in mind. The time of voting for the familiar name is over. We can’t allow the continued cruelty of men like Ted Cruise, Mitch McConnell, and Rand Paul and Republican governors to oppress us any longer.

It’s in my nature to worry. No matter how hard I try to stop myself, worry creeps in. I was worried that my daughter in law looked too thin during her last trimester of pregnancy. I was worried when the baby dropped into position at 34 weeks. I was worried when the mucus plug discharged at 35 weeks and at 36 weeks, my grandson made a rapid appearance after only 3 hours of labor on March 19th. His original due date was April 16th.

He weighed in at 5lbs 4oz and was 17 1/2 inches long. He was given oxygen for a few hours and glucose. His spent his first hours of life in the NICU at John Hopkin’s where ironically his mother interned in pediatrics. He is now out of the NICU and he seems to be thriving. My daughter in law will begin work at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia this July, as a NICU doctor. So, “Baby James” Edward Pryor, is in excellent hands. I keep reminding myself that things will be fine, although I only slept three hours last night and kept checking my phone.

I’m excited about this precious addition to our family and can’t wait until the worst of this pandemic is over so that I can go visit them. I’ll get my second dose of the Maderna vaccine this week and as healthcare workers, they have already been vaccinated. I’m thankful that technology allows me to see and hear them through my cell phone in real time. I laughed when the baby perked up upon hearing my voice. And it was nice to be “present” for the nurse visit as they talked about his progress and impending circumcision this morning.

My grandson is mixed race. I care deeply about the country he is being born into. Since 2016, many people feel they have permission to put their selfishness, bigoty, misogyny, xenophobia, and racism on full display. It’s been awful and dangerous. How many lives could have been spared if people wore masks and kept their distance? And this week, misplaced anxiety resulted in the murder of eight innocent lives, six of whom were Asian American women. I want a better country for my grandson and everyone else. We deserve better. But it is on each of us to make this country better.

I’ll conclude with a poem I wrote in response to a hate incident on the university campus where I work several years ago. I put the words on t-shirts and handed them out to our campus community. Here is the poem:

My grandson will leave the comfort and safety of the hospital today or tomorrow. I’m praying that a better world will greet him.

Later this month, we will receive our second dose of the Merderna vaccine. Michael is over 70 so he was eligible a week before me. I’m an educator, so I became eligible at the end of February. There are inequities around the distribution of the vaccine that are striking to me.

Michael was lucky to be eligible because of his age despite his recent recovery from lung cancer and reduced lung capacity along with other issues that make him at high risk of dying from COVID-19. I too, have documented health conditions that put me at high risk. But none of that mattered. It came down to age and type of employment. Beyond healthcare workers and first responders, I believe that if we really wanted to save more lives, we would have put the most medically vulnerable next in line. Despite the knowledge that years of economic disparities, medical neglect, and racism have made people of color more likely to die from COVID-19, governors couldn’t bring themselves to put people of color with health conditions near the front of the line. In fact, even today, the availability of the vaccines in communities of color is lower if it is available at all. And the myth that blacks are unwilling to take the vaccine has been dispelled by recent polls that show we are the most willing of any ethnic group at 73% willingness. This is so unfair.

The other inequity that is glaringly apparent is the amount of time many people have to wait in line for the vaccine. On the news, they showed people waiting up to six hours to get the vaccine and so we expected that it would take all day. For Michael, his wait was about 20 minutes and I didn’t have to wait at all. I literally walked into the tent 5 minutes ahead of my appointment and had my shot within 2 minutes of my arrival. There was no line at all.

I’ve often marveled at why some people have to wait in long lines for hours to vote in major elections while I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes. And now I vote by mail just because its more convenient. Republican state legislatures are trying to make the situation worse for communities of color to vote by removing vote by mail, reducing polling place hours of operation, eliminating drop boxes, and demanding voter ID. We all know that the quality of roads, schools, water, air, and even grocery stores is better in white parts of town than others. Something is definitely amiss. A five year old child could point out the unfairness happening here.

When I ask myself what factors are at play to make my access to public benefits like decent roads and schools or easy engagements like getting a vaccine and voting versus someone else’s, I have to admit two things. First, I live in a predominately white area. Second, is our upper middle class economic status. Our taxpayer dollars make these benefits and engagements possible, but why are these funds dispersed so unevenly?

Early on my parents recognized these inequities and opted to move us into a white neighborhood once redlining was challenged in court. We found better roads, better schools, better and less expensive groceries, bigger public libraries, and a plethora of other benefits. While we faced bigotry and prejudice, those obstacles built our resilience, courage, and determination. It also made us aware that not all white people were bigoted nor prejudice. I found good friends who learned from my family that black people are actually as human as they are. So, I too, made the decision to raise my children in a predominately white affluent neighborhood to enjoy the better public assets but also to expand the minds of white neighbors about black people. And although we dealt with occasional bigotry and prejudice, my children grew to be strong advocates for diversity, equity and inclusion.

I understand that public assets are funded by a combination of local, state, and federal tax dollars. But if a depressed area has a lower local tax base because its population is poor, wouldn’t it be fair or equitable for the state and federal government to step in to boost the resources available to repair roads, bolster education, and to have adequate polling places? After all, we all pay state and federal taxes. However, as we know from Donald Trump and even Warren Buffet, the wealthy are paying less in taxes than the average working American. All the more reason for us to insist on equity.

By not insisting on fairness, we are institutionalizing inequity on the basis of race and economic class. Years of red-lining kept people of color locked in poor neighborhoods that effectively strangled the local tax base. And we know about the history of white people violently destroying those black communities that did manage to thrive. And once red-lining ended, white flight occurred as people of color began moving into predominately white neighborhoods. In fact, many formerly white schools and neighborhoods in California are now all black or Latino. Whites moved out and took their generational wealth with them.

It’s time that we start demanding equity from our state and federal politicians who distribute the funds that we all contribute to. In Florida, Ron Desantis is accused of funneling more vaccines to white republican areas. This kind of inequity needs to be called out and politicians who distribute our publicly funded assets unfairly need to be voted out of office. Of course, we need to first secure our collective ability to vote. The time for equity in the distribution of public benefits is definitely now.

This week, with the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Governor Cuomo, I was again reminded that some older white males in this country still view women as their personal play things. I rarely talk about the three times in my life when I paid the price for their sexual folly while they walked away unscathed. Being only 84% black, I have to wonder if my very existence isn’t the result of white male sexual assault upon my female slave ancestors.

The first time I was sexually assaulted, I was ten years old and my family had moved into a white neighborhood in Southern California. The single white male living next door was a television producer and was by all accounts a progressive man who embraced his new black neighbors. So much so that my brothers enjoyed visiting his home. On one occasion when I accompanied them to play, I found myself alone with the man and he sexually assaulted me. Before he got too far, my immediate response was to violently escape his advances and to run back home. However, I remained silent and never disclosed to my parents nor my brothers what had transpired that day. I made the calculated decision that the only one who would get hurt by my disclosure was my black father. Even as a ten year old, I understood that a black man could not safety defend his daughter against a white man. So, I kept my distance from that man, held my tongue, and bore the brunt of that pain alone.

The second incident was when I was a seventeen year old chemistry lab assistant at an almost all white high school. I had considered it an honor as a top student to be invited to assist my former biology and chemistry teacher. It was when we were alone in the lab one afternoon that he grabbed me and tried to kiss me on the mouth. I pushed him away, ran out of the lab and straight to the administration office where I asked to be dropped as his lab assistant. I gave some lame excuse and was released. Amazingly, I was unaware that I began to wear clothes for me that were oversized. It wasn’t until I was shopping several months later that a young sales lady pointed out that she had been watching me try on clothes and she noticed that I was purchasing clothes two sizes too big for me. I realized that I had been traumatized and was hiding and that I wasn’t even aware of it.

The third incident occurred when I was in my thirties and employed at a small private securities firm. At that time I was married with three kids. I had obtained my securities license and was making a ton of money. I enjoyed that job even though the hours were a bit long, but that job provided for a live-in housekeeper, a big BMW, and a nice home. We had it all and my future in the world of finance looked bright until the day the owner of the firm called me into his office, shut the door and tried to sexually assault me. I pushed him away and quit on the spot. Thankfully, my husband had a good job and we had savings to fall back on or our finances could have been ruined. I wasn’t silent this time, telling my husband precisely what happened and warning him to do nothing. Again, the reality was that only the black man would be harmed in the situation.

I say all this to say that I am glad that white men are finally being held accountable for their mistreatment of women. For all of history, we have been the ones to bear the emotional distress, the financial setbacks, and career limitations because of their abhorrent behavior. This has to stop and now is the time to stop it. It’s disgusting and disappointing to me that any woman supports Donald Trump who not only admits to grabbing women by their private parts, but claims that he hoped his daughters would have “the courage” to quit their job if they were sexually harassed at work. That is the kind of twisted thinking that has to end.

When I think of my perpetrators, I wonder what punishment I would have liked to see for them. The television producer belonged in prison because what he did to me was criminal. The science teacher should have been fired. The owner of the securities firm should have lost his wife and his reputation. I ask myself now if an apology would have been enough? Perhaps in the case of the securities firm owner. I was an adult at the time. If he had expressed contrition for his behavior and made a commitment to behave better in the future toward female employees, perhaps that would be enough. I still would have left though.

In conclusion, I guess I have mixed feelings as to whether Governor Cuomo should resign or be removed from office. He has publicly apologized. He has acknowledged his wrongdoing and has made a commitment to do better by female employees. For me, I think on a personal level at this moment in time, that might just be enough.