Dear Progressive Reader,
Speaking in Boston, Massachusetts, in May 1920, Ohio Republican Senator Warren G. Harding said, “America’s present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration . . .” It was that yearning for “normalcy” that was the main factor in Harding’s nomination and election to the White House. Ohio History magazine notes, “Harding’s campaign slogan of ‘a return to normalcy’ resonated with voters . . . . Weary of war, Americans also faced a recession and the Spanish Flu epidemic, which made more than a quarter of all Americans ill and killed an estimated 675,000 people in the United States during 1918 and 1919. On Nov. 2, 1920, Harding won the election in a landslide.”
This election season, it appears the contest will be between two candidates calling for a return to “normal.”—Donald Trump, who cannot contain himself from urging that the country “re-open for business” in spite of admonitions from his own closest advisors to “maintain social distance,” and Joe Biden who, from his first campaign announcement, has been offering a magical return to the good-old-days of the Obama presidency and an erasure of the Trump years. But across social media, a call is going out: “Let’s not return to ‘normal,’ because normal wasn’t working.”
The coronavirus pandemic has crucially demonstrated the cracks and fissures in what is often called “normal” in our society—the continually growing economic inequality; the lack of access to affordable healthcare; the reality of who has a home, and who does not; the fact that the virus inordinately affects African American communities; and more. Coming out of this crisis, we must address these inequalities. But, as Basav Sen writes in an op-ed this week, “Some people are already using this crisis to push through devastating changes that will enrich polluters and harm public health.” Reese Erlich points out, “A recession was inevitable, but COVID-19 and the Trump Administration’s failures are making it worse.” And Bill Blum asks the question, “Could [Donald Trump] one day be held liable, either civilly or criminally, for the deaths of thousands of Americans who have succumbed to the lethal, novel coronavirus known as COVID-19?”
Other reports this week on our website include Marsha Brown’s look at the Ohio federal prison where simple incarceration has become a “death sentence” in an era of COVID-19. Yohuru Williams echoes this in his op-ed on the impacts of the crisis on people in detention, stating, “Not only must we care equally for and about every human being, we must stop the pandemic’s spread in every sector of society, including the most overlooked and forgotten.” And Rann Miller explains that “Educators must be aware of the racism within their school buildings and school policies prior to the COVID-19 crisis and how the impact of that racism can be compounded because of the new realities for students, both inside and outside the classroom.”
This past week’s train-wreck of a primary election in Wisconsin may be a frightening harbinger of elections to come. Ruth Conniff notes, Republicans “don’t want voting to be easy. They want it to be difficult. That’s how they plan to win elections without majority support. . . . Unless we get organized as early as possible, it will be the sign of things to come.” Bill Lueders reports, “The Republican Party of Wisconsin has put the novel coronavirus to novel use, as an instrument of voter suppression.” And even though Bernie Sanders, the remaining progressive candidate in the Democratic presidential race, suspended his campaign the day following Wisconsin’s vote, Christopher Cook asserts, “It’s abundantly clear that Sanders and progressives have shifted the national discussion in ways that could lead to significant change.” Cook concludes, “The upcoming war for justice and survival demands all of our attention. It’s a battle we can’t afford to lose.”
We have been gathering all of our coverage of COVID-19 under one tab on our website for quick access. Keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S. – In an unprecedented move, spurred by the urgency of the moment, we released the entire new issue of The Progressive early in digital form. You can read it or download it at progressive.org/AprilMay2020pdf or read it on a mobile device here. We hope you will share the link with others who would like to read this month’s articles as well. We exist because we want people to read our content, but we survive because they do.
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