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The weight of history is bearing down on the United States, as mass protests confront the enduring impact of systemic racism. Millions have been moved to action by the police murders of African Americans George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, Tony McDade in Tallahassee, Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, and by the killing of Ahmed Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia by a retired police officer and his son. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is holding one of his signature demagogic rallies, the first since the pandemic struck, at an indoor arena in Tulsa, just as Oklahoma suffers its worst week of COVID-19 infections. Trump refuses to wear a mask publicly, and, while the Trump campaign won’t require attendees to wear masks either, it will require them to sign a waiver releasing the campaign from liability should they contract COVID-19.
Trump’s choice of Tulsa has angered many. COVID-19 disproportionately impacts African Americans. If the rally, as expected, causes a further surge in local coronavirus cases, the Black community will potentially be the most impacted. Furthermore, this month marks the 99th anniversary of one of the worst massacres of African Americans in U.S. history. In June, 1921, a white mob burned to the ground Tulsa’s affluent, African American neighborhood of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, killing at least 300 residents.
Trump also scheduled his rally for June 19th, known as Juneteenth, a day of commemoration and celebration in the African American community. Juneteenth is ... Read More →
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