The country, indeed the world is going through a change of epic proportions. A cultural shift that will affect us for generations. This is not unlike a World War, or the Internet revolution. Our lives will be changed and some feel helpless in its wake.
Let's look at the virus. It is small, unseen by the naked eye. It invades the body without our permission, and once inside affects each person differently. For some people nothing happens. It is as if they have a natural immunity to it. But the immunity may have come from a previous experience to a virus - the body recognizes it and fights it. Others it affects their lungs, making it impossible to breath. Still others it affects their sense of smell and taste , so they cannot tell the difference between good and bad food. Many have fevers, which can lead to disillusions and nightmares. A few will have a reaction where the body destroys itself trying to fight the virus. Sadly some are affected by blood clots and may have to have operations or sadly limbs amputated. This particular virus hits the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions, the weak among us. In the end, many of us who get the virus will survive, but all will have been affected. Some day, hopefully soon, we will have a vaccine, which will allow out bodies to recognize the virus and battle it before it gets severe, and then we will be able to get back to normal, although it will not be the same normal. Our world will have changed, just like it did after 9/11.
Racism is not unlike the virus. No one is born a racist - the disease has to come from outside our body, but once inside, it takes over. Some are immune. No matter what someone says, or does, they are strong enough to see through it and fight it off before it takes hold. With others it affects them in different ways. Some it might manifest itself as hatred and violence, like the body fighting itself. It destroys the person from within and takes massive effort and help from outside to cure it, if it can be cured. For others it creates fear and ignorance. These persons do not outwardly show any signs, they are asymptomatic - but they spread the disease without even knowing it. They also do not see the virus around them; since they cannot experience it. The cure for them is education and empathy. Still others get the disease of racism, feel its destructive power and recover from it. They see how it ruins peoples lives and society and hopefully can now admit the problem and work to solve it.
With the Covid virus, all our lives are affected. We are quarantined, many stores closed, people have lost jobs and loved ones, we have to wear masks which is uncomfortable and what was normal is now changed. With the uprising, which seems to be around the world, we are seeing a similar change. Statues are being torn down, brands are being renamed, stories from history are being rewritten, mostly for the truth. What was normal has been changed, the comfortable, uncomfortable. People hate change, but that is what is happening. All this could have been done already, many have been talked about for years if not decades. Like the pandemic, it has gotten to the point where we feel like we have to deal with this problem once and for all. The price for waiting so long is there will be collateral damage, there will be an over reaction. This is not unlike ignoring a health problem - it will not go away by itself, it will just get worse to the point where a good limb gets cut off, or a body organ it damaged beyond repair.
The sad reality is there will be a vaccine for the Corvid Virus, but not everyone will take it, or maybe it will not work for everyone. The same will be true for racism. Many will think that we can eradicate it in one fell swoop, but that will not happen. It will always be with us as it is based in the sin of pride. And as long as humans are alive, there will be some who are not able to be cured. For the rest of us, we will have to continually work to control it - to fight it, to contain it. It will take a continuous effort or like the virus, it will mutate and come back. Progress is not something that can be bought and put on a mantle to display. It is a process where we dedicate part of our energy to fixing the problem. The good news is that if we all work together, the load will be small.
ChrisZ
