Protests! Reopening! And Covid-19!

I'll open by simply stating my premise right out: We need to let the reopeners have their way. Because we would be fools to think the protests are really about the death of one African American in Minneapolis. No, what makes it bigger this time is the economic depression we are currently living in. The shutdowns resulting from the Covid-19 crisis have led to massive unemployment, most of it in the Black community. THIS, more than anything else, is fueling the anger, the frustration, and the desperation behind these riots. Blacks have gone from trying to make it on two low-income jobs to having no jobs at all, waiting for a stimulus check which may never come. They've gone from getting by on a wing and a prayer to not even having a prayer. THAT'S why they're willing to face armored vehicles and tear gas! That's why they're looting businesses whose prices have not come down in spite of everything.

Was it all necessary? Is the hardship needed? Or did we panic for nothing?

The right-wingers say yes. Many of them are (still!) calling Covid-19 a "hoax." And they want the economy re-opened NOW.

We have to let them. We need to show, by example, that the shutdown was not just some academic exercise. It was necessary to save the lives of many, many people.

"What?!" You might ask. "Are you seriously willing to sacrifice innocent lives to Covid-19 just to prove a political point?!"

No! Let me make this abundantly clear: I, myself am not willing to sacrifice anyone. But THEY, on the radical Right, are! And we simply can't stop them. Their minds are made up. We couldn't police it if we tried. All we can do is warn people, and warn them we will. And after having warned them, c'est la vie.

Then, when the virus rebounds, and the casualties begin to mount in red states, we on the Left will be there, saying, "We told you so!"

Again, we have no choice.

And the reason we don't have a choice isn't only because the wing-nuts on the Right are so gung-ho for reopening. The African American  communities are hurting, and they're seriously wondering whether any of it is necessary. It was a powder keg long before Derek Chauvin ever leaned on George Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. The anger and frustration were vented on those businesses who charged the most and paid the least: Walgreen's, and Target. No, not those businesses exclusively, and not nearly so calculated. Some of the looting was just sheer opportunism. There is some evidence that looting may have been set up by agitators on both sides. Stories of loose bricks appearing at protest sites are troubling. But the agitators wouldn't be able to do anything much, if there wasn't so much actual anger to take advantage of.

So it's time to let the reopeners have their way, as if we have any other option. When the virus resurges, the pro-Trump cult will finally be out of excuses. I know, I know, I've been saying that for a while, but this time it counts more than ever before. Because no political party has ever bet so many chips on one throw before.

"But what if you're wrong?" someone may ask. "What if the virus isn't nearly as deadly as we thought? What if the number of Covid-19 cases doesn't spike, and the death toll doesn't mount like you predict?"

Well, the early numbers show that the numbers are spiking already, so that's a silly question at this point. But just for shiggles, let's say that the virus doesn't spike, and the death toll doesn't mount, or at least not as much as we thought. What then?

Well, that will make for a slightly more interesting November.

But we can't sacrifice the well being of our African American brothers for nothing. We can't march with them on the one hand, and deny them jobs with the other. Not without damned good reason.

Let's give them that damned good reason! Let's prove we were right! And lean on the neck of the Alt-Right for a change!


Eric

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