Obesity and Ozempic

Protest and Pandemics

As the world continues to struggle with COVID-19 with its health and economic impacts, a white police officer in Minneapolis chose to kill an unarmed black man who was thought to be passing a counterfeit bill. The video of the death of George Floyd will remain indelibly etched into the minds of all for years to come. Protests against this act of overt police brutality swiftly followed, first in the Twin Cities and then across the United States and now the world. It appears that elements, either outside groups or among the protestors, have decided to make the protests bloody and fiery. At this time it is unclear who the instigators of violence are. There are signs on social media and in photos and videos of the protests that outside elements from the right-wing have decided this is an opportune time to seed further chaos in our society. It will require time and a full set of investigations, including forensic investigations of social media posts, to ascertain where this impetus comes from. I remain convinced that the white supremacists and possibly foreign influences such as Russia have some role in fomenting this mess. As reported in the New York Times today, more than 75 cities have seen protests, curfews have been placed in more than two dozen cities, and the National Guard has been mobilized under state control to assist in controlling the violence. It is also important to note that in the midst of this chaos, peaceful protest, as is protected under the First Amendment, continues, as it should. The roots of this civil unrest are sadly ancient; they go back to 1619 and the onset of chattel slavery in British North America. People kidnaped from Africa were brought to this continent and its Caribbean and Latin American neighbors to work under the most miserable conditions. Mistreatment included murder, physical abuse, rape, and utter subjection. In the United States, even a great Civil War was not alone sufficient to free people of color. The era of Jim Crow and its brand of slavery continued for generations and inequality, built into slavery and exacerbated by unfettered capitalism in the 19th, 20th, and now 21st centuries keeps Americans divided by the simple fact of melanin content in the skin. Racism and inequality are evil twins in the American community.




All of this is in the midst of a pandemic of COVID-19. One need only look at the photos and videos of protestors and police to understand that the only good current weapons to prevent COVID-19 transmission we have (masking and social distancing) are not being observed by most, especially when confrontation occurs. When emotion replaces rational thought, the niceties of preventing disease transmission are forgotten. Many epidemiologists and physicians are now expecting to see a further rise in COVID-19 cases in the upcoming weeks as a consequence. The efforts to decrease transmission have likely hit a significant snag in the light of mass protests. Lacking federal leadership from the start of this pandemic, the impact on public health and the economy will see a worsening as summer begins.




One other appalling aspect of what we are witnessing: attacks on the press by law enforcement authorities. Such attacks have been unprovoked and done even when journalists prospectively identify themselves as reporters. The police have infringed on the First Amendment by attacking the press with tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and arrest, just as they infringed on the right of a black man to justice and the ability to live. These are actions of a dictatorship, not a democratic republic. Americans of all ideologies and political persuasions should repudiate such police activity.




Both the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests we are seeing today because of the extra-judicial killing of an unarmed black man were predictable. Pandemics and police brutality have been recurring themes for ages. Both problems require humans to face them squarely and ask what is the right thing to do. For pandemics, the application of science and public health internationally will be the only defense on this planet. This was not the approach of the Trump administration. It must be the approach going forward because COVID-19 will NOT be the last pandemic the human species will need to face. As for the twin problems of racism and inequality, a better way forward is needed even more urgently today than before. When protests occur, as David Graham writes today in The Atlantic, “The demonstrations around the country take as their starting point that police are brutalizing citizens of color. Law-enforcement officers and agencies have two ways to respond: They can affirm that complaint with aggressive policing and overwhelming force, or they can work to show they are on the same side, against brutality.” There is no road “back” to normality; there is only a path forward that will require all of us to work together.