Yesterday, May 31, 2020, the most read story in my local newspaper was about one man’s experience with Covid-19.
The same day, peaceful protests of police brutality sparked by the murder of George Floyd occurred in my city and around the world. In some locations, the peaceful protesters were joined by opportunists who torched and looted cities, creating chaos and endangering countless residents and first responders. The world also marveled at the successful launch and Crew Dragon’s successful landing at the International Space Station. The protests and the SpaceX launch are both new, evolving stories affecting millions around the globe.
So why did more people read the story about how one man got sick and recovered from Covid-19 than these other two major news stories?
It is likely because people think, believe, or fear that Covid-19 is more likely to affect them than police brutality or space flight. We live in a time where people are increasingly aware of and concerned about themselves than about others. We have a hard time understanding things that we don’t experience first-hand. Photo by LOGAN WEAVER on Unsplash
We understand the effects of Stay-At-Home orders when we cannot buy cleaning supplies and paper goods at the grocery. We understand better the challenges of those without childcare when schools closed and we couldn’t go to work or do our work because we have children to care for at home. We understand the pain of watching a family member all alone in the hospital giving birth or potentially dying IF we also endured such an event. If someone we love has experienced Covid-19, we are more likely to believe it could happen to us.
But those of us who didn’t experience these difficulties for ourselves are beginning to wonder, “Is this Covid-19 really all that it’s made out to be?” Many of us whose lives have yet to be directly affected are asking whether we really need masks, whether hospitals were really in jeopardy of running out of ventilators or beds, whether this isn’t just like the flu, and whether we should be moving so slowly to reopen schools, stores and churches.
We need to read stories about Samual Chen and others to feel a connection to what Covid-19 is and what having it is like. We need to feel that connection to tolerate the challenges of social distancing. We need a connection to those who had that near-death experience to be willing to put up with the frustrating and costly red – yellow – green system our governor and health experts are using to protect our health while we want to “return to normal.” Without the personal accounts of how bad it was and how hard the recovery can be, we are less likely to sacrifice for our own good, much less for the common good.
I get that.
Such stories make the abstract feel real.
So the most read story in the paper was about one man’s experience with Covid-19 rather than about one man’s experience with policy brutality. I believe that is because many people think they are more likely to get Covid-19 than to become a victim of police brutality. For people with white skin, that must be statistically true.
Even after watching Mr. George Floyd die while his neck was pinned under the weight of a police officer’s knee, many of us don’t believe that could happen to us. This is one aspect of white privilege. We don’t fear the experience of police brutality. We can’t feel that fear if it has not been a part of our first-hand experience or the experience of someone we love. So we read about Covid-19 more than we read about George Floyd.
Yet, thousands of Americans are demonstrating because they indeed feel that pain. They know that feeling and they want the rest of us to understand, and to feel it too.
Watching the violence, destruction and looting over the past few days has been heartbreaking. I found myself wondering where are our leaders? Why are so few speaking up about what happened to George Floyd and providing guidance and assurance that this type of brutality will not be accepted in this country?
Then I realized that I can be the one to say so. We each have a voice and an opportunity and an obligation to say, “No – this is not acceptable.” The murder of George Floyd is more than enough reason for us to sacrifice for the common good. We need to advocate for change. We need to show compassion and empathy. We each need to educate ourselves. We need to open our minds and our hearts to the possibility – the reality – that police brutality and other forms of injustice exist, even if we do not feel them directly. I don’t need to feel the knee on my neck to know that it wasn’t right. We do not need to wait for hate and discrimination to take the life of our own family members to know and to feel that it should not happen to anyone. We must protect everyone.
I’m so proud that people in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton kept the focus of our protests on communicating the pain and injustice of police brutality and didn’t devolve into the widespread violence and destruction of property we see across the country. This gives me hope.
Reference:
Chen, Samuel. (May 32, 2020). Your View by Lehigh Valley political strategist: What I learned from my COVID-19 recovery. THE MORNING CALL. Retrieved from