Author: tonihall805@outlook.com

When my children were young and they injured someone, I taught them that it wasn’t enough to simply apologize. An apology was to be followed by, “Are you okay?” with the responsibility attached to it of repairing any damaged resulting from their actions even if unintended. The collective of the U.S. has injured black Americans dating back to 1619 when the first African slaves were brought to this country. It is not enough to only now acknowledge the injury of slavery, Jim Crow, lynching, and anti-black systemic racism that has finally been exposed for what it is. An apology isn’t enough. Just as freeing slaves in 1863 without education, money, and a place to work or live was not enough. America literally said, “You’re on your own now and because we see you as inferior to us, we won’t hire you unless you work for less. We won’t allow you to go to our schools. We won’t let you compete for our good jobs. We won’t let you live in our neighborhoods. We won’t let you go to our hospitals, stay in our hotels, or eat in our restaurants. And when you build your own, we will burn them down. We will do whatever we can to keep you from voting. When you talk back to us, question us, or make us feel uncomfortable, or run away from us, we will kill you with impunity. In fact, we look for legal reasons to lock you up and throw away the key.” America can finally see that the lingering poverty, lack of opportunity, exclusion, health and education disparities, and emotional and physical vulnerability of blacks was caused by 400 years of systemic racism towards blacks. Reparations are required, starting with an acknowledgement by every governmental and educational institution as well as corporate business that black lives matter.

I actually smiled a little at the June 12th announcement by Band-aid that they are launching a new line of band-aids that matches the range of skin colors in this country. This is a form of reparations. It is righting a wrong that has existed since they introduced the band-aid. Walmart is unlocking the cases that prevent black people from accessing black hair products without assistance in their stores that implemented that practice. Removing that indignity is a form of reparations. Cofounder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, gave up his board seat to be replaced specifically by a black person as an act of reparations. The University of California removed the SAT from its admission requirement. Eliminating a test that has long been known to privilege wealth is a form of reparation. The NFL finally acknowledged that it was wrong to denounce and punish Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee and is now supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. This is only the start of repairing their wrong. When we see Colin signed to another team, then they have truly acted to repair their damage.

Reparations are not handouts or charity. They are acts to take responsibility for damage inflicted by proactively working to repair the damage. In my mind reparations from a state and federal government means that we fully fund our public schools so that a child who walks into a school in the inner city will have access to the same facilities, materials, activities, and quality teachers as children in the suburbs. But in addition, repairing the damage in minority schools means putting in place social services to repair the years of financial, mental, and physical neglect. Reparations means that police and the criminal justice system are held accountable for their desperate treatment of people of color. Those who have been given sentences greater than their white counterparts for the same crime, should have their sentences reduced. Those who served longer sentences should be paid for the extra time served. Communities who have been over-policed and fined should be provided with community development grants by their state to build libraries, parks, community centers, business development centers, free health clinics and hospitals and mental health centers. Police departments should be dismantled and rebuilt under a model that truly seeks to protect and serve all humans. Mental health screening must become a part of the police hiring process to root out the sadists, bullies and white supremacists. And finally, police departments and offending officers should be subjected to civil lawsuits for excessive force that ruins the lives and livelihoods of many black families. A new name was just added to the list of racist police deaths in Atlanta, Rayshard Brooks. In health care, reparations means providing blacks and Native Americans with Medicare. The physical and emotional toll on the health of Native Americans and Blacks specifically because of this nation’s racism is well documented and must be repaired. Price gouging in stores in communities of color should be illegal and fines that benefit the community should be imposed on violators. State and local governments need to pass laws that require banks to pay fines directly to victims who experience discrimination in lending. Trade schools, community college, and state universities throughout the nation should be free for blacks and Native Americans for the next 20 years. And finally, black social security benefits should be raised to compensate for the years of discrimination that stifled the earning capacity of current retirees.

For all of this nation’s history, Black lives have been devalued, oppressed, and discriminated against to their detriment. Black lives have been diminished, denied opportunities, and even lost too soon as a result of systemic racism. It is time to acknowledge the collective wrong of a nation and to not only acknowledge that wrong, but to repair that wrong with real investment that actually pulls people up to a level playing field. The time for reparation has come.

I listened to people in powerful leadership roles this week deny the existence of systemic racism. It occurred to me that the denial of such a system actually helps keep an effective system of white privilege in place. These leaders keep insisting that racism is the problem of a few depraved individuals. They refuse to acknowledge that the system in place (the institutional and societal set of policies, processes, and practices) actually enable the individual acts of racism to proceed largely unchallenged and unabated. It is important to understand how systemic racism operates under the radar of most white Americans. And at its roots is a fairly recent anti-black mindset that was introduced to promote and perpetuate the institution of black slavery throughout Europe and the Americas.

Before institutionalized black slavery, the tribal mentality built into the human psyche had led to constant Us versus Them tribal conflicts. It is surreal to me how these basic conflicts continue to plague the human race today. Throughout the world, the tribe with the better weapons of war, immunity to diseases, or cool new gadgets dominate and enjoy the spoils of both land, power, and subjugated human labor. It was once normal for conquered people to be turned into slaves. Originally, slavery wasn’t based on the notion of the innate human superiority of one race over another. In fact, racially homogeneous societies operated and continue to operate under a class system where there is a ruling class, an educated and merchant class, and then a working class (which includes slaves) based on inherited family status. Humans also seem to be trapped by an instinctual need rank each other. These hierarchies serve those at the top while brutalizing those at the bottom. And to this already unjust societal norm, humans added a new layer of ranking: ranking according to skin color.

What began in the 1500s as white tribes seeking to dominate the world for wealth and power (greed) became scientific racism by the 17th century wherein white tribal success lead scientists to began to speculate that some races were inherently better than others, with the White race on top. These false notions gave moral fuel to a highly profitable system of black slavery, providing justification to classify blacks as only 2/3 human, inherently inferior to every other race, and therefore deserving of perpetual slavery. Later, the eugenic movement, led by Americans and taken up by the Nazis has solidified itself into the mentally of people all over the world. It’s like racism easily latched on to the human brain’s proclivity for tribalism and ranking. The notion that one tribe is better than another based solely on skin color has infected the entire human race. These deeply embedded beliefs pollute the minds of almost every American, including black Americans themselves (internalized racism). Since the 1940s the Black Doll Test has consistently shown that the majority of young children, including black children, associate white skin with good character traits and dark skin with bad ones. When whiteness is the standard for all that is good and right across the world, it is impossible not be a little scared and repulsed by blackness.

Racism is a combination of this inherent belief in white superiority mixed with the power to make decisions. It is the belief in the inherent inferiority of a particular person and the power to act negatively toward them. Systemic racism is the societal set of policies, processes, and practices that the ruling class has in place to uphold, excuse, and permit individual racist behavior. The following example should help to illuminate how this works.

An apartment owner has an apartment for rent and places an add in a local newspaper. A black couple shows up to view the apartment and the apartment owner, believing that black people are too poor, too dirty, and will lower his property value, tells the couple that the apartment is no longer available. This is individual racism. The individual is acting on his belief in the inferiority of the black couple and has the power to simply deny them the opportunity to rent his apartment based on his racist behavior even though there are fair housing laws on the books. In order to pursue their rights, the black couple would have to spend money, time, and energy to prove housing discrimination. And even if they did sue, they would likely face a white judge who is sympathetic to the plight of the apartment owner. The system works in favor of the racist apartment owner who can act with impunity because the process and practices in place to ensure fairness even when the policies are fair are is too cumbersome.

Examples like this are everyday happenings for people of color. With policies, processes, and practices in place that signal to people of color that the individual racist will not be held accountable for his racist actions, the system allows for teachers who have low expectations of their students of color to continue teaching with racists views, employers who don’t hire qualified people of color or set higher barriers for employment and promotion to continue to discriminate, for bankers who require additional layers of financial scrutiny for home or business loans to continue to deny loans to people of color, and for the criminal justice system that arrests blacks for crimes they ignore among whites to continue to fine, brutalize and incarcerate blacks in unpresented numbers and for longer sentences to continue to do so.

This is what systemic racism looks like and this is why people are taking to the streets. This is why black people are screaming that their lives matter. Not that they matter more than brown or white lives, but that they matter at all in a nation that continually demonstrates that they do not matter. Despite the debunked science of racial superiority or inferiority, we continue to live among racist individuals in a system that protects the racists. We are tired of living in a nation that continually demonstrates that black skinned people deserve less and that black lives do not matter. On every metric of survival and success, black lives are at the bottom. Many want to deny the racist system and blame black people for their own plight. There is no equal protection under the law and no ability to pursue life, liberty and happiness when a system of policies, processes, and practices block black people from receiving it.

I hope I have adequately explained systemic racism. I hope that now is the time that our society will begin to dismantle it. Change only begins with acknowledging the problem, confronting it, and then working really hard to fix the problem. I hope and pray that protesters will be able to force the ruling class to acknowledge the system they have upheld for centuries and then force them to tear it down. All of that is a heavy lift, but we are capable together.

For Americans who care about social justice and basic human dignity, silence is not an acceptable option in this moment. The recent events in which video captures the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd and the endangering of Christian Cooper by a privileged white woman (Amy Cooper, no relation) who calls the police with a false claim of threat. As I watch protests give way to full out rioting including the spectacle of both fires and looting across the country, I ask myself which path is the most effective.

Speaking as a black woman in America, I know we need change. We demand it. We have been demanding it since slavery and Jim Crow. I understand that blacks aren’t the only ethnic group who need a more equitable system in this country. Our nation’s history has shown that skin color determines treatment. And in this particular moment, black people are once again the ones under attack from multiple sides.

Years of economic, environmental, and healthcare discrimination have left us particularly vulnerable to dying from COVID-19. The virus doesn’t see skin color, but seeks opportunities. The economic and social systems in place created the heath disparities in conditions like asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes coupled with an overrepresentation in frontline essential work that leaves us particularly vulnerable. And the fact that it is more difficult for blacks to even be tested speaks volumes about who is valued and who is not in this nation.

It wasn’t enough that COVID-19 is ravaging our families, but once again we have unjustified murders and a justice system dragging its feet toward accountability and justice. We only know about the murders caught on video. My guess is that many more go unreported, particularly involving police, because the cameras are not rolling. And just how many are serving prison sentences or paying large fines because of police malfeasance?

How can any decent American stay silent? At the very least protests are called for. Protest in social media. Protest among friends. Protest from microphones. Protest in writing to newspapers and lawmakers. Protest in the streets, but while wearing masks and practicing social distancing.

But has the level of offense against black lives reached the level where rioting is called for? Perhaps. But this is not my preference because it is scary and riots have proven to be self-destructive rather than constructive. I get that there is a symbolic meaning behind burning down buildings. It is a symbolic call to destroy an entire system. Burn it down to the ground in order to start again is the meaning. There is meaning behind looting, too. The meaning is that the economic transactional system currently in place is unfair in which the rich always win and the poor always loose. So, looting is a way to reject the transaction. For some, they think its just an opportunity to get free stuff. But even that mentality itself is a byproduct of an unjust system.

At this moment in time, I side with both the protesters and the rioters. I worry because I don’t see the street protesters and rioters wearing masks or practicing any social distancing. In 2-3 weeks there will likely be a horrible price to pay in more COVID-19 illnesses and deaths. This sad reality makes me even more hopeful that our business leaders, educators, and political leaders really see, really hear, and really understand that the present system is unjust and cannot persist.

People like me are longing for the current system that is built on structural racism to collapse. Death, destruction, and chaos are in our future if these leaders do not act to change things quickly. If these leaders just look at the burning cars and buildings and the looters as irrational acts of violence, then they are missing the point and eventually the whole system will be burned down with them inside it.

I’m a fan of Asian dramas in general and South Korean dramas in particular. Beyond gaining insight into the culture, history, and landscape, I like them because they spotlight, in the most real way, the human condition. Inside a K-drama I can laugh, cry, be scared, be angry and experience the harshest of human frustration and finally satisfaction. Netflix recently released its newest K-drama titled, “Itaewon Class”. The 16 episodes depict the reality wherein the rich and powerful ruthlessly trample on the both the rights and the dignity of the poor and weak. In one scene, the arrogant heir brags that laws are in place to control the poor, but didn’t apply to people like him. Sadly, I think this reality is true all over the world, including here in the U.S.

We have huge numbers of black, brown, and poor people in prison for crimes that the well-connected and wealthy get away with every day. Watching both Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen both be released from prison this week says a lot about our society and our two-tiered justice system. Both men will get to spend the rest of their prison sentences in the comfort of their luxury homes surrounded by family and eating great food. Yes, they are on “house arrest” but look at the houses. And yet, this is the society we have collectively allowed to exist. We shrug our shoulders, stay silent, and accept that this is just the reality of things, recognizing the perversion of justice but feeling unable or unwilling to do anything about it.

In our society, like that depicted in the South Korean drama, the rich and powerful get to lie, cheat, steal, kill, and break all the laws of human decency and honor while pointing their dirty fingers at others with impunity. And despite this shameful reality, we not only allow this strange order to exist but in 2016, we actually elected a person who epitomizes this perverted order to be president of our country. Since Trump’s election, the perversion of justice and decency seems to worsen every day. Now we even have to contend with lies being spewed about Obama, the continual firing of any person who tries to hold wrongdoers accountable, and with an abuse of power that has never been so blatant and so overtly cruel. This president has actual blood on his hands with his handling of the border and now COVID-19.

And yet, we’ve become so perverted that there is still a question as to whether we would re-elect such a person in November. The sad thing is that a lot of this perversion can be laid at the very feet of Evangelical Christians who once were the standard bearers for what is good and right and decent and loving. Jesus told us that we would know a tree by the fruit it bears. But too many of them refuse to look at the fruit because they want judges who will trample on the rights of those who disagree with their theology. Too many Christians have turned away from the teachings of Christ and have embraced a man who breaks every law of love that Jesus has taught us. The poor and strangers whom Jesus told us to embrace don’t stand a chance with Trump in power. They want to protect the rights of the unborn while enacting death-sentence policies for the people who are already walking this earth. The perversion is not only real, but growing with these Trump supporters protesting against public health policies designed to keep us safe from a deadly virus.

The first step in solving a problem is to realize there is one. I’m calling out the perversion I see in the hope that others will recognize it and join me in helping to turn the tables. In the K-drama I just watched, the main character is fighting hard to turn the tables. The struggle was hard and painful and hellishly frustrating at times. But in the end, with the help of others, the table is turned and justice prevails.

The point I took away from the story is that “liberty and justice for all” doesn’t happen on its own. We have to bravely and collectively make it happen. For us in the U.S., this begins with voting in the presidential election this fall against Donald Trump and convincing our friends and loved ones to do the same.

Places are opening, perhaps too soon, but still opening. One such place is our local golf course. So, my husband, an avid golfer, went. While at the golf course, my husband told me about an old golf buddy who tried to approach him without wearing a mask. He stopped him from coming any closer and the friend accused my husband of being “one of them”. I guess the “one of them” are the mask-wearing, handwashing, surface sanitizing, glove wearing, social distancing people. My husband replied with a simple “Yes, I believe the science and this virus is nothing to play with.” And herein lies the problem and why I’m scared of too many of my fellow Americans.

Our communication with one another has been poisoned by too many lies in the public sphere. Because our political and corporate leaders who were supposed to be trustworthy have shown themselves to be self-serving liars so much of the time, the average person has to choose whom to believe. Sadly, too many are choosing to believe conspiracy theorist who occupy spaces on the radio and on social media and who themselves have an ego or profit motive for spreading their lies and misinformation.

But now the stakes are really high, even deadly. People are going to get sick and others will die because of the lunacy we have allowed to take root in our public discourse. Certain people have shown us who they are and that we definitely cannot trust them. We know we can’t trust this lying president Trump and his muzzled administration. We know we need to be skeptical of what business people say because of their profit motives. Certain news media outlets have ceased being committed to the truth. But we can and should seek truth from our scientists and health professionals who remain dedicated to the survival of humans and the planet.

I am terrified of people who show up in supermarkets without masks. I am frightened by people who defy stay at home orders to show up at beaches and frequent house parties either denying the risks or ignorant of them. I am even more terrified of people who show up at government buildings with guns demanding the lifting of all restrictions because some of them believe the whole COVID-19 thing is a hoax and others are protesting government infringement on their “freedom”. I suppose these same individuals are opposed to speed limits and stop signs as well.

We have the freedom to be stupid. We have the freedom to believe what we want to believe. We have the freedom to risk our own lives. But should we also have the freedom to put others lives at risk without consequence? The most vulnerable among us are being offered as sacrifices to the gods of money and freedom of movement. The scientists and health experts have made it clear that we are not yet adequately prepared re-open the country in a way that will protect human lives. But too many American leaders are ignoring these warnings re-opening businesses. And way too many Americans are rushing into bars and restaurants.

I am really afraid. The cost in the coming months will be the premature deaths of vulnerable loved ones, healthcare workers, first responders, and people working on the front lines who provide the essentials. I’m not ready to become a victim of insensitive, selfish, or ignorant Americans who do not take this COVID-19 threat seriously.

So, my husband and I will continue to be “one of them”: the mask-wearing, handwashing, surface sanitizing, glove wearing, and social distancing humans with even less freedom of movement because of the scary Americans out there who ignore the science and choose to act as if there is no danger.

I’m in love with K-Pop which is South Korean pop music. I enjoy it with or without the English subtitles. The K-Pop world paid close attention to the artistry of Michael Jackson that combines catchy music, incredible dance choreography, a moving storyline, mad aesthetics with attention paid to makeup, clothes, set design, camera angles and lighting, and production. K-Pop captures and nurtures my soul in the same way Michael Jackson captivated me. Surprisingly, it was my pre-debut Astro boys who lead me to the most popular K-Pop boy group on the planet, BTS. It was while watching pre-debut Astro members dancing to catchy songs that prompted me to find the songs. I discovered that both the songs and the choreography were from BTS. And so, I delved into BTS and became a huge fan.

The name BTS stands for a few things. Originally, Big Hit Entertainment had them slated as a hip-hop group when they debuted in June 2013 and BTS stood for Bangtang Sonyeondan which translates to Bulletproof Boy Scouts. They soon switched over to K-Pop and they became idols, wearing makeup and losing some of the hard edge. The seven member group, BTS, then became also known as the Bangtang Boys. In 2017 they added Beyond the Scene to the meaning of BTS. I get it, people evolve. And this group has definitely evolved over the 10 years they have spent living and working together as a unit. Like Astro, the members each have a unique personality, appeal, and role.

The leader of the group is RM (Rap Monster). Like his name implies, he is a rapper. Apparently he took a lot of heat from the hip hop scene when he became an idol, switching to K-Pop. He is the only member fluent in English and talks about learning English by watching the sitcom “Friends”. There are two other rappers, Suga and J-Hope, although Jungkook also raps. Suga is an introvert like me. He is an award winning and prolific songwriter who never intended to become famous. They call him the grumpy member. J-Hope is the exact opposite, full of positivity and great dance moves as the lead dancer, donning the strict dance teacher mode at times. Jin is the oldest in the group, born in 1992, and he is a really great singer. He is considered the visual, meaning the really good-looking one. And yes, he is good looking. But beyond good-looking is the incredibly sexy and charismatic Jimin. He was formerly a contemporary dancer and it shows. This young man is so attractive that even straight males have a hard time resisting his sex appeal. He is the shortest member, a lead vocalist, and a main dancer. He is the member my eyes are drawn to the most. I would call him my bias (K-pop for favorite). V is another that was recruited as a visual. He too is a lead dancer and vocalist. And finally, there is my other bias, Jungkook, the youngest in the group. This kid, born in 1997 does it all. He is the main vocalist, a main dancer, he raps, and on top of that he is so handsome. He is also quite the athlete. That’s the low down on the members, now on to my favorite songs and videos.

I mentioned that Astro introduced me to BTS by covering two of their songs. Those songs were Boy in Luv (2014) and Dope (2015). Other songs that have gained widespread popularity include I Need U (2016), Danger (2014), and Mic Drop (2017). Although the videos of these songs are well done, I prefer the live performances because videos depict such harsh realities and a harder edge of hip hop. My favorite early videos are Dope (2015) and Blood Sweat & Tears (2016) which is artistically beautiful. Also artistically wonderful is Fake Love (2018) and Black Swan (2020).

And finally, their most recent releases have captured my attention with more views than I care to admit. I’m captivated by the pure fun of Boy With Luv and the music and power of On, the Kinetic Manifesto Film. There are so many other BTS songs and videos that I am fond of. I have officially joined the fandom of BTS, called the A.R.M.Y.

This week I saw and also experienced the emerging mental health challenges stemming from the Corona virus pandemic. I think combining major life changes, social separation, physical threat, ambiguity, conflicting information, and financial stressors is a recipe for a widespread mental health crisis that differs among individuals affected. I saw a variety of manifestations of the crisis this week, starting at home.

My husband has always struggled with claustrophobia. But this week, the condition hit him hard and he couldn’t stay home. The back and front yards were no longer enough. I didn’t realize what was going on until he insisted beyond any iota of rational thought that he had to go to the car dealership to get a replacement for a cracked tail light that was under warranty until December. When I pointed out that it was still April and that the tail light could wait, he protested to the point that there was no stopping him. With mask and sanitizer in hand he left the house. No surprise that the dealership didn’t have the tail light and would have to order it. The following day, he made an unnecessary trip to COSTCO for snacks. Friday, it was another trip to the car dealership without even a call to see if the part was in. Saturday, he went golfing since they reopened the golf course. Needless to say, his irrational behavior was cause for tension between us as I reminded him of the need for social distancing, the risks of exposure in the places he was going, and the pre-existing conditions we both have that put us at particular risk. His emotional need to get out of the house was much stronger than his fear of the threat of what he might bring home. That was my husband this week, but I’ve had my own struggle.

I’ve been overly stressed by work-related changes and challenges along with a coincidental flare up of my asthma. In addition, and not surprising, my gastric ulcer flared up, leaving me in enormous pain. I haven’t been physically well, but I pushed myself to at least keep working Monday – Friday. I’ve been eating my ulcer diet, sleeping seven hours, and exercising with stretching, the treadmill, hand weights and gardening a few minutes a day for sunshine and fresh air. And then out of the blue, something else hit me. It was either burnout or mild depression. For about an hour and a half on late Friday afternoon, I was overcome with this feeling of wanting to just give up. I felt like I couldn’t move. I couldn’t read another email, do another Zoom call, respond to another question or take another phone call. I wanted to quit everything. If this was what life was going to be like, I wanted no part of it. I went and sat on the front porch. I went and sat on the back patio. I felt tired of it all. I was thankful that it was late Friday afternoon, meaning I had the weekend ahead to recover and to think of a way forward.

Experiencing my own mental health issues and that of my husband’s this week, helped me understand a little better why people are out there protesting and demanding an end to the shut down even before it is safe to reopen. People with anxiety issues are likely more anxious. People with anger issues are likely more angry. The list goes on about how underlying mental health issues are being exasperated by the crisis. As we collectively experience the death of society as we know it, we had better pay attention to mental health. Let’s recognize that our lives have been completely disrupted by the death of loved ones, the fear or reality of financial ruin, the absence of social gatherings, the massive adaptations to lifestyles, the pressure to be productive, and the loss of freedom of movement. Add to that the threat of contracting an unpredictable disease and the constant barrage of news, misinformation, and ambiguity about the future. There is no end in sight and that makes the situation more difficult for all of us.

I know I’m not alone in struggling to maintain a healthy outlook in the midst of this pandemic. But one thing I do know is that we can’t deny what is happening and pretend like we can go back to life as we knew it. Change is hard and coming to terms with a new normal is not without heartache, setbacks, and yes, pain. But if we can listen to cooler heads, acknowledge our struggles, give ourselves a break, take better care of our body, mind, and spirit, and then figure out reasonable solutions, we’ll get through this as stronger individuals and as a stronger and hopefully more equitable society.

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.