How is what we are experiencing here in the US not like the atrocities of genocide and ethnic cleansing of other countries in the world?
As I try my best to take in the totality of this pandemic, the enormous amount of people I have known who are gone because of Covid-19 and the overwhelming sense of hopelessness, I began to draw comparisons to multiple occurrences of genocide in US history. Timely, remembering what happened to indigenous tribes here in the US and the correlating massacres that were waged against tribes as well as the fictitious “thanksgiving” dinner as mentioned in the Smithsonian Magazine article:
Red Summer of Chicago, Elaine Massacre in Arkansas, Bogalusa Labor Massacre in Louisiana, Ocoee Massacre in Florida, Tulsa and Rosewood just to name few of the racist, senseless attacks on black people in the United States. (https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/massacres-us/)
I find myself seeing the cycle repeat, today. US Leadership shared statements of not supplying resources to blue states for not pledging their allegiances to #45. Usually, states that lean Democratic have large populations of black people. In doing so, what manifested was multiple acts of genocide by our federal government. By withholding valuable information about Covid-19, information that we could have used to better prepare and protect our communities, unnecessary infections and deaths occurred. As the pandemic progressed, what emerged was the overwhelming impact this pandemic was having on black people. According to COVID Racial Tracker (www.covidtracking.com/race), black people are impacted, dying 1.9 times the rate of white people. For me, this feels like ethnic cleansing. By completely ignoring guidance from our trusted medical and science experts, US Leadership politicized the pandemic by prioritizing republican lead states for resources. Unfortunately, those republican led states further disenfranchised black people by replicating federal posturing with black people and more infections and deaths occurred.
We do not deserve to be treated this way. My black people are citizens, residents and fairly assessed taxpayers of this country. We deserve dignity and respect. We are all the United States of America!
As in most cases, black people are the most marginalized, most impacted, most hunted people in this country, just for existing. Another pandemic that continues to be raging in this country, the murder of black people at the hands of law enforcement. This must stop!
As more information comes forward about Covid-19, how it is spread and how it impacts our bodies, it is so important to listen and act accordingly. So much misinformation has been shared with black people about the impacts. By shifting the narrative to a more accurate description of these experiences, US Leadership, regardless to the intentions, launched genocide and ethnic cleansing across the country, literally killing black people at an alarming rate.
Additional actions should be employed for black people:
Stay home
Wear masks anytime we leave our homes
No in restaurant dining
No bars, not gyms, no nail salons, no hair salons, no barber shops, no lash/eyebrow shops
Limit in-store shopping or use curbside shopping or contactless delivery where possible
Wash hands often
Social distance of 8 feet
No gatherings with people outside your home
100% work from home where possible
Essential workers who are black should be granted emergency medical leave with pay from all employers
Take care of one another
Allies, co-conspirators, the signal is clear for you to step to the fight for Black Lives
What Is Mr. B Thinking? 