Living in the COVID-19 World .. And Beyond #1: Of Course I'm Angry. We All Should Be

Yes, I’m angry.  And I’m scared.  And I’m grief-stricken.

I started organizing this blog in my mind weeks ago as I was processing the impact of the pandemic.  The more I learned, the more upset, terrified, and sadder I became.

We have now reached over 100,000 people dead in the United States, with people of color disproportionately affected.

We have now reached over 40 million people seeking unemployment benefits, or  one out of every four American workers.

And, meanwhile, the net worth of the 600-plus U.S. billionaires rose 15% (an increase of $434 billion) between March 18 – May 19, 2020.

How could one not feel upset when we know in our hearts that this does not make sense?  This is not the world of which we dreamt, nor is it the world that we endeavored to create.

And now, more visible than ever thanks to astute participants and observers using their smartphone cameras, I am seeing horrendous instances of racism and racist violence.

Yes, I’m angry and we all should be upset.  Being angry and upset is the rational response to injustice, and we are seeing injustice unfold.  It is staring us in the face.   

I’m challenged to take it all in, and I’d imagine many of you are too.   Doing so requires time to seek out accurate information and time to process all of the emotions that this information stirs up .  And time is precious.  But the alternative is to be uninformed and numb, and that alternative, although it might offer temporary relief from the pain, is not workable in the long run.   

One invitation that I offer - to my fellow white-skinned friends especially - is to fully notice and to feel all that the current situation brings up for you.  We might need to scream, to shake, and to cry about it.  We might need to rage about it.  I think that we are right to feel outraged.  I call it righteous indignation.

Connecting to our full range of emotions about the historic and the current injustices, and specifically racism, is a necessary but insufficient step.  It is necessary to prevent us from going numb and seeking out personal comfort instead of facing the harsh realities.  And it is insufficient because action is also critical, although the precise nature of that action might look different for each of us.  It could be reaching out to people we know and care about who have been targeted by racism, it could be striving to connect to people with different attitudes and beliefs, participating in protest and rallies, engaging in political action, or something else.   

I am going to stay in the fight, and I implore you to join me. Let us stay connected and aware about what is happening around us, accept and acknowledge that we are angry, and take action to build a more just and equitable society.