Race in the Time of Corona
Love in the Time of Corona: On the Deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery
I don’t have much to say today except this: I’m sorry.
I am so, so sorry that many of you who I love and cherish as amazing people in my life are dealing with this unimaginable pain—the pain of knowing that your life can literally be taken away from you, that you can be killed in broad daylight, because you have committed the crime of being black in America.
It is heartbreaking and infuriating. It is unacceptable and inhumane.
It is not, however, shocking.
This is America. It’s the America you’ve known ever since you were old enough to understand it, and the America that almost all white Americans understand even if they don’t want to admit it.
I shared this video on Facebook, in which famed anti-racist Jane Elliott asks all the white people in a room to stand up if they would be happy to be treated as our society in general treats our black citizens.
No one stands, and Elliott makes her point: We all know the rules of the game in America. We all know that being born white makes you safer in this country than being born black or brown or anything that isn’t white. We all know, deep down, that the institutions and structures of American society place less value on non-white lives.
I cannot begin to fathom the emotional pain that builds up in a person who grows up in such a society and is reminded every day, in ways big and small, that the country in which they live wasn’t built for them, even though in many regards it was built by them. Imagine trying to love a place as your home, because it is your home—but then being told constantly that you don’t belong there, that you’re unwelcome there, and that you can be evicted at any time just because the landlord feels like it.
I am saying I’m sorry because I don’t know what else to say. Maybe: I am here for you, I am here with you, and I will do whatever I can to help change this country. It just doesn’t feel like enough, though.
Sometimes, sorry doesn’t cut it.
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Read other posts from the “Love in the Time of Corona” series by Sam Rosenthal:
- Love in the Time of Corona — Day 1
- Days 2 + 3, Purgatory
- Day 4, Powerless
- Days 5 + 6, On the Necessity of Everyday Heroism
- Days 7 + 8, Rose-Colored Realism
- Days 9 + 10, Stir Crazy
- Days 11–13, Turning the Corner?
- Day 14, A Down-and-Up Kinda’ Day
- Days 15 + 16, Thanks, Health Heroes
- 15 Practical Ways You Can Help Fight COVID-19
- Day 30, Do The Things That Make You Happy
- Day “I’ve Lost Count,” Fatigue
Read more of Sam Rosenthal’s work at samrose101.com, check out his #businesscardstories collection, follow him at @SamRoseWrites and stay tuned for his debut novel, Walking Backwards.
And always Keep It Movin
