COVID-19 Blog #3 – A Whole New World

Honestly, it’s a struggle to write this. Not emotionally, but simply because, how many times can I write about the same thing, from my perspective, at least? Every day I wake up, check the news, ignore the news to stay sane, eat, do work, sleep, repeat. I guess the only thing changing is the severity of this whole crisis.

I think the majority of people have finally accepted that this is probably going to extend well into the summertime. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects colleges’ fall enrollment. Seniors have to completely readjust their immediate life plans as internships and job opportunities fall through. Now many incoming freshmen may be questioning their matriculation. Unclear about whether or not campuses could be ready to reopen in a few months, they could possibly take a gap year or start their college career strictly online.

On a lighter note, it looks like stimulus checks have started to disperse, even though many college students won’t even receive one. It’s good that people are finally getting some kind of relief. It should be more than just the one payment and more than $1200 (because we know that it’s possible), but something is better than nothing (I guess). With the refusal to bail out the United States Postal Service, those people who will have to depend on getting a paper check are most likely going to be the most vulnerable at this time.

I often think about what a post-COVID-19 world is going to look like. A lot of the changes made to accommodate our new physically-distant society are a hint to a better quality of life that has always been possible in this country and should continue in the future. Changes in terms of accessibility, financial support, and many other things that poor and disabled activists have been fighting for are now being realized to an extent. It’s a shame that it took a global pandemic for these things to occur, but hopefully when things begin to return to something akin to ‘normal,’ we as a people will continue to hold our government and institutions accountable about the power they actually have to drastically better the conditions of the marginalized in this country.

Finally, I still worry about my community — the Black community — during these times. Statistically, we’ve been some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19 for a number of reasons. And considering that medical racism is already a well-established phenomenon, it is probably especially terrifying to be sick and a person of color these days. Even abroad, as China is now facing a second wave of the coronavirus, the African community in Guangzhou is facing discrimination and xenophobia that has resulted in evictions and homelessness. I pray that the government there steps in and quickly fixes this situation as to not perpetuate the same prejudice that Asians and Asian-Americans have unwarrantedly experienced themselves.

Well, according to the news, the president hopes that businesses can reopen by May 1st. Something tells me that in a few weeks, they’re going to push that date back (again).

— Nigel D. Dent

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