Fielding Graduate University Zoom program: Racism &COVID19 Wed. 7/1/20

I am about to listen to a timely topic which is run through Fieldnotes to address timely topics around the world. The President of Fielding Katrina Rogers. It's amazing to learn more about the programs they offer in the social sciences with a focus on scholar-practitioners, flexible programming and more.  These are direct notes I am taking from the program...

The topic being addressed which has impacted people of color disproportionately includes a panel of professors and alums of Fielding University. Dr. Tom Hayashi presenting "Our Common Past, Our Common Purpose." He feels there is an ongoing concern of social justice. 

He spoke of Yuri Kotiyama  who helped lead the Civil Rights Movement. The US is not united due to racism, injustices and inequalities. Howard Zinn  writings affirmed the need to protest.Fear is a big factor he addressed as relative to the Spanish Flu in two years from 1918 with huge numbers of contagion and many who died.

Currently COVID19 has claimed 230K lives which is on a large scale. Many mitigation efforts were used in the Spanish Flu that we have used in the current pandemic of COVID19. Added triggers escalate hate at such times which is a form of awakening for society as well. Reflecting on the history of the US and as a person who is ethnically Chinese and Japanese.

There was the aboloshment of slavery yet laborers from China worked on many projects such as the Transcontinental Railroad. Xenophobia in the 1800s there was fear that Asian men would harm or mate with white women. Similar fear was pushed along those lines regarding African American men being a risk to white women as well.

Hate crimes against Asian-Pacific Islanders have been part of our society. Even with the modern concern that the CV19 came from China, 2000 microcrimes directed at people from that ethnic group have been counted.

These trends are related to history. in 1872, there was an attack an  Asian community in California. Other times under the guise of a health concern, a Santa Ana China Town was burned down. In Tulsa OK in 1925, racism was a motivation for white men to burn down a part of town that African Americans occupied.

During the march in Selma, Dr. King and others wore leis sent to them from a leader in Hawaii who wanted to show solidarity with the protests and advocacy. Vincent Chen has been killed by two dispaced autoworkers in Detroit MI two days before he was going to get married. The two men were acquitted. That injustice spurred other activism. There was some discussion about gender and ethnic differences in handwashing studies. I didn't quite catch if there was some significant variation but I don't think so...

Next Jolena Burns spoke about the Navajo Nation. When CV18 hit their territory in AZ, NM, UT which is 2700 miles (similar to the size of WV.) The Hopi Reservation is also in that area. There are 8 geographical divisions.

There are just under 333K Navajo (who have at least 25% Navojo genetics.) The average age is 27 and the average salary is 27K/year. There are many shortcomings for basic services and consistent help on the reservation. Navajo-nsn.com was a site for tracking the CV19 timeline of events for cases and curfews or quarantine. Much of it correlated with the state guidelines. But there were more curfews put in place including for some weekends through July 2020.

Education was curtailed, especially for special needs students, and modified graduations. There were not tests for all who needed them. Healthworkers were overworked. There was limited PPE gear. Contract tracing was difficult yet was attempted. CV19 seemed to spread quickly when people had been at gatherings.

There was a delay in getting funding from the federal government. Internet access was not readily available consistently. Adjustments were made and many businesses were challenged. Bureaucracy has held up progress, with only 13 grocery stores compared to the 160 in West Virginia (an area of similar size.) Essentially they are about 30 years behind services and times in the Navajo nation business-wise. With 50K tests, 7K were found positive and just over 350 people died in the Navojo nation so far. Those numbers are not inclued in the numbers for the state reports.

Primary needs are for  infrastructure, housing (with running water and internet etc), and economic development to help the reslient Navajo to face these challenges as they have done in the past with conviction and readiness to succeed.

David Blake Willis offered thanks  to the presenters, particularly Jolena for her talk, and prayers for all who suffered from CV19. He explores how to understand racism and pandemics. He offers that racism has been a pandemic since the days of the Greeks who'd 'blame the barbarians' with a different language (mimicking their sounds as ba-ba-ba..thus the word barbarians.)

He quoted Paul Farmer who said that "all pandemics are blamed on transnationals.' He sadly shared that during the pandemic thousands of Jews were killed intentionally during the time of the Black Plague. Some in China were killed for alleged poisoning when an outbreak occurred there historically. The worst pandemic in history is from 1492 with colonialism ending the lives of at least 50 million indigenous people and upwards of 90 million.

David Blake Willis explores the idea of our human origins as from one source (monogenesis) or many (polygenesis.) Syphillis was labelled as something that came from another land wherever it showed up. From 100 years ago where there was an emphasis of eugenics (some people being superior), Franz Boaz writing and a book Gods of the Upper Air were shared to promote the idea that more people were valued with a sense of their diversity and anthropological significance.

Now with CV19, the Kung Flu, or Chinese Pandemic are racist terms and blaming the victim mentality is used to dismiss the science. Many forms of scapegoating ethnic groups, including Chinese people who were being alleged to spreading the virus comes around. Sadly a man attacked and killed a c Chinese couple with a two year old in Midland TX. Scapegoating is too common and needs to be discussed to help curb the tide of that and fake news that incites such patterns. Basically 'Stop Blaming the Victim."

 Then he described the pattern of how people faced the need to pay attention to the virus slowly and with some more scapegoating once reality struck. The protests with people joining to together for #BlackLivesMatter is encouraging. The time for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, reparations and education across the board. Realizing we have a choice to make about making more of an effort to have values of a common good and success versus the few succeeding on the backs of masses. Identifying the elephant in the room of the military-industrial complex ruling over our country and impacting the world.

To what end he asks are we investing in costly miltary.  Books to explore include: Emergent Strategy, the Next American Revolution, Howto Hide an Empire. The Half that's Never Been Told. White Fragility. Just Mercy, What the Eyes Don't See (about Flint MI.) Talking About Race Smithsonian Exhibit. He encourages people to pay attention, the protests. "All lives can't matter until Black lives matter." and "A Movement not a moment."

A few moments of silence were taken to acknowledge the many ways racism and disparities harm people. Also we carry the hope of all people to be advocates and in our dealings with each other and ways we engage with other human beings.

Dr. Katrina Rogers spoke about a labor leader and activist Dolores Heurta who received recognition from Fielding for her work. She went on to say that technogody, inequality and globalization.

Technology has been used to help activists but also harm. Overall ways to help people grow in their civic engagement and advocacy which would decrease racism and problems was described. Many in prisons are deprived of ways to join in society.

Historical set backs have ingrained victimhood in many populations and deprived them of adequate support for housing, health, education and connection in communiites. Yet many societal changes can be implemented effectively if there is a consensus of doing things with institutions joining together intentionally to hold certain values of justice and shared power.

Unfortunately many 'at the top' have had a policy of keeping people disenfranchised. We could take the opportunity to reflect on how to amend deep injustices in our society to make things more equitable.

Zabrina Epps then spoke about people who have been marginalized by the design of our systems. Tomas Leal  was the moderator of this panel. She shared that Fielding Graduate University is in a unique position to weigh in on how systemic change is needed and could be done to benefit people of color and society.

The Fielding Way is an approach as a global community with a diverse way of assessing concerns. Dedication to social justice and responding creatively along with making meaningful connections and ways to reform society. Zabrina Epps offers that Fielding University Graduates are 'systems' thinkers that want to revise things in profound and particular ways. People who can be agents of change with effective research and advocacy are part of the foundational principles of advocacy.

Fielding Graduate University professors, students and alumni shed light on many aspects of society and have done internal systemic reflection.Research is a strong suit of the programs which can be instrumental in shedding light and offering insights from many disciplines and concerns such as equality, promoting diversity and inclusion of LGBTQ, social justice among others. The question was raised, What will we do to promote equity and social justice in communities (at the school and wider areas.) The Fielding way is about transformational action.

In the Q and A, Tom Hayashi offered that there need to be broad societal needs to push for yet also need focused efforts as well. The question touched on the concern that as more efforts are made to hear the black needs might there be pushback from whites and others? (That's how I heard it.)

David Blake Willis said we have the resources to address matters as a coherent society because the powers that be have been promoting division. The emerging majority is going to succeed if we vote, Vote, VOTE! We need to do the collective work. 

Zabrina Epps offered that younger people are ready to make needs known and wanting to speak out and offer answers. Q: How do we address the oppressive nature of capitalism? David Blake Willis offered that we think of alternatives in meaningful way for things like food and basic organization. Democratic socialism like Denmark, Switzerland and others set examples. We could start with healthcare for everyone.

Q: How can society deal with fake news? Zabrina said Twitter is not helpful. She offered that it can be a healthy balance of what one sees. It may be good to hear alternative views to be aware of what's going on. Ideally go to original sources, public radio and television (but that may not be all it's meant to be possibly.)

Know what one's intentions are, for instance the liberation and justice for all people, and look for things that support those. Tom Hayashi offered to engage with others in meaningful discussions with people who have different beliefs.Globalization is narrowing the diversity. Cutting off from all social media is not realistic. Some people intentionally have dinner or discuss things with people who have different views, interact in meaningful ways, check sources.