By Joanne Byrne
Retired and Rejuvenated
Joanne Byrne
The week of March 15 marked the one-year anniversary for most of us as the start of the “shutdown” because of COVID-19. Here we are, one year later after the most devastating year in US history, including over half a million COVID deaths, quarantine, a contested presidential election, storming of our Capitol, development of several new COVID-19 vaccinations (this is a good thing), children being educated at home, people unable to go to work and a huge dose of social isolation for many of us.
It has been a tough year, and we have learned much from it. I, for one, have decided not to go back to my hectic way of living pre-COVID. I like the increased quiet of my life.
Sadly, there have been several more devastating events that have rocked our nation in the midst of recovering from the pandemic. The nation was shocked by the shooting of eight people at massage parlors in Atlanta. This shooting was even more ominous than usual, because six of the female victims were of Asian descent, including four who were Korean. This horrendous attack came at a time when hate crimes and attacks against Asian Americans have soared. The shootings also come as relations between the US and China are deteriorating, making it even more imperative that the US squash this wave of persecution.
In recent years, negative sentiment toward China has spiked to previously unimaginable levels. It is possible to see the latest deadly attack as one more manifestation of a wave of hatred that has afflicted Americans in the last few years. In 2020, hate crimes against Asian people in the US went up by 150 percent, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
I am particularly concerned because my husband and I have an adopted daughter of Asian descent. Asians have often been the object of harassment and aggression on the street, especially in supposedly tolerant California. Asian women have been perceived as easy targets and often treated as “perpetual foreigners.”
Something changed in 2020, and it’s pretty obvious what it was: COVID-19. A worldwide wave of attacks on Asian people erupted in the early days of the pandemic.
Obviously, it is stupid to blame people for being of the same race or ethnicity as a country where a virus originated, but it happened nonetheless. Asian Americans must no longer be the invisible minority; our leaders must explicitly highlight their presence in a positive light and cement them as true core members of the American people.
Hate should have no safe harbor in America. We all need to stand up to bigotry when we see it. Our silence is complicity. Racism is real in America. We all need to practice empathy, understanding and compassion toward others who do not look like us, or follow a different culture.
I have been developing a greater social awareness lately, but still have a great distance to grow. A book discussion group that I participate in just read the book Let’s Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (I highly recommend it as a hard-hitting, user-friendly examination of race in America). Then I participated in a Zoom presentation by the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Albertus Magnus College titled, “Calling In and Calling Out.” I think that class is the motivation for me to write this column, calling out hatred against Asians. Silence is not an option.
We as seniors have witnessed so much through our history, including the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., whose outspokenness and activity did so much for the African American population. We must continue to gain an enlightened understanding and acceptance of all people of color. It should be the American way.
Joanne served as Senior Services Coordinator for the Town of Orange. She is now actively and happily retired. Email her at joannebyrne41@gmail.com to share your thoughts on retirement.