I was wondering about how about we will be reasonably relaxing social distancing when I got what I thought was an Amber alert on my phone.  No, the familiar tone was something different, a Public Safety Alert that was a warning to clear the streets.  In all our recent travels I puzzled over what area this curfew came from.  Tampa? West Palm Beach? Charleston? Philadelphia?

Suddenly the Coronavirus took a back seat to the civil unrest stemming from the tragic public killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.   It’s apparent to me now that it is truly dangerous to be a person of color in America or a police officer patrolling urban areas where violent sharks prowl a sea of peaceful protestors.  And with a likely second wave of the virus on its way you can only hope you aren’t someone over the age of 65 or with a chronic condition, or living in a facility – whether a prison or senior care center.

Unfortunately, while some of these things we can change, others we are born into, and often inequalities in income, education and opportunity severely limit the progress possible.  While some non-violent offenders have been released from prison and some elders in homes rescued by their adult children, most are locked in their current situations.

It seems that there needs to be a profound change in how we care for the weakest and how we protect the most vulnerable.  Because, only then, as a society of equals, and not as self-isolating individuals protected by privilege, can we feel truly “safe” again.