Gatherings in every state in the country this week to protest police brutality may be followed by increased numbers of COVID-19 cases in the next few weeks, state health departments warn. But a narrow focus on whether the number of COVID-19 cases may spike after protests is a distraction from the real health dangers of police brutality and racism.
You read that correctly. COVID-19 has now been declared a distraction.
For good measure, we have been further informed it is no longer a real health danger.
Isn't this a relief? We no longer have to worry about COVID-19 and can go back to our normal lives.
Frankly, I'm surprised Wetsman didn't extol the virtues of hydroxychloroquine or recommend protesters inject themselves with Clorox while in the sunlight.
Judging by the number of people gathered on the Brooklyn Bridge and in front of the Barclays Center, it is abundantly clear that social distancing has gone out the window and we shall soon pay a price for it.
Indeed, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has called upon all New Yorkers who attended COVID-19 protests to get tested. But I suppose that in Wetsman's eyes social distancing is so April 2020.
How can an infectious disease which has afflicted 1.8 million Americans and killed nearly 110,000 people (and counting) in the space of four months be viewed as a distraction in any way, shape or form when it has fundamentally altered the way we live?
The COVID-19 pandemic is the single most significant global event of the 21st Century. Period.
Now no one would argue that police brutality and racism aren't real health dangers. The murder of George Floyd demonstrates this point and warrants righteous anger as does the overly aggressive responses by police (and by President Trump) to the protests. But for millions of Americans to blatantly disregard social distancing by congregating in large numbers (even while wearing masks) is bound to escalate the number of COVID-19 cases, increase the burden on overwhelmed hospitals, create obstacles for contact tracers attempting to mitigate its spread and result in more deaths.
Given how the African-American and Latino communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 one would think engaging in pre-pandemic political expression on a large scale would only exacerbate the awful toll of COVID-19 has taken in these communities. Indeed, while it did not contribute to his death, we now know George Floyd himself had COVID-19.
During the Re-Open protests, Bruce Plante of Tulsa World drew one of the most memorable political cartoons in recent memory. It depicted a group of protesters with signs such as "Re-Open Now!", "I Wanna Git My Hair Done!" and "I Need a Tattoo Now!". Opposite the protesters was a single nurse with a face mask carrying a sign of her own - "See You Soon".
Now one can argue the cause of the Re-Open protests is light and transient. But COVID-19 doesn't care what your cause is. Like it or not, the nurse carrying the "See You Soon" is just as apt for the George Floyd protesters as it is for the Re-Open protesters. Those who have been carrying signs which read "Black Lives Matter", "No Justice! No Peace!" and especially "I Can't Breathe" might soon find themselves in need of a ventilator.
The increased online activity during the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way Americans are buying goods and services, exercising, being entertained, getting educated, how we worship and how we work (for those of us who still have jobs). One would think the same would hold true for political activism. In which case, the most logical domain for protesting the murder of George Floyd, police brutality and engaging in other forms of protests would also be done online. Yet Blackout Tuesday was organized explicitly to refrain from the use of social media platforms. This seems both counterintuitive and counterproductive.
The brutal and senseless murder of George Floyd doesn't change the fact we are still fighting a pandemic which is still killing Americans. However awful police brutality in America is against the African-American and Latino communities, it doesn't change the fact there is no vaccine or viable therapeutic for COVID-19. So long as that is the case then COVID-19 will kill African-Americans and Latinos more swiftly in larger numbers than any police department, no matter how cruel, ever could.
COVID-19 can be described as many things. A distraction is surely not one of them.
During the Re-Open protests, Bruce Plante of Tulsa World drew one of the most memorable political cartoons in recent memory. It depicted a group of protesters with signs such as "Re-Open Now!", "I Wanna Git My Hair Done!" and "I Need a Tattoo Now!". Opposite the protesters was a single nurse with a face mask carrying a sign of her own - "See You Soon".
Now one can argue the cause of the Re-Open protests is light and transient. But COVID-19 doesn't care what your cause is. Like it or not, the nurse carrying the "See You Soon" is just as apt for the George Floyd protesters as it is for the Re-Open protesters. Those who have been carrying signs which read "Black Lives Matter", "No Justice! No Peace!" and especially "I Can't Breathe" might soon find themselves in need of a ventilator.
The increased online activity during the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way Americans are buying goods and services, exercising, being entertained, getting educated, how we worship and how we work (for those of us who still have jobs). One would think the same would hold true for political activism. In which case, the most logical domain for protesting the murder of George Floyd, police brutality and engaging in other forms of protests would also be done online. Yet Blackout Tuesday was organized explicitly to refrain from the use of social media platforms. This seems both counterintuitive and counterproductive.
The brutal and senseless murder of George Floyd doesn't change the fact we are still fighting a pandemic which is still killing Americans. However awful police brutality in America is against the African-American and Latino communities, it doesn't change the fact there is no vaccine or viable therapeutic for COVID-19. So long as that is the case then COVID-19 will kill African-Americans and Latinos more swiftly in larger numbers than any police department, no matter how cruel, ever could.
COVID-19 can be described as many things. A distraction is surely not one of them.
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