We need to acknowledge, however, how big a family we really have. All modern humans on earth belong to a single species, Homo sapiens; all other human types have vanished. We are the only living beings of the humankind; having evolved in Africa, we now live in cities and villages, forests, deserts, mountains, by riverbanks and on scattered islands. Our unique commonality irrevocably links us to each other anywhere on earth. We have more in common than we may want to admit.
Many of us behave, nevertheless, as if we are significantly different from others. We easily create fractured relationships among individuals, groups, communities, and nations. We have an unfortunate history, too, of using man-made divisions which are not scientific ones, like race, religion, ethnicity and so on to marginalize and discriminate against vulnerable minority groups.
Today, a contagious virus is a new equalizer; all humans are susceptible to it. This virus has, also, exposed schisms in American society. Black Americans, Latinos and American Indians have long been targeted with punishing laws and other kinds of unfair treatment. Now they are dying at a higher number than whites because of pre-existing conditions which are likely linked to the stresses of poverty. Poverty, associated with low wage jobs like bus and delivery drivers, grocery clerks, and sanitation workers, puts them at a high risk of contracting the virus. They lack paid sick leave, adequate health care insurance, and because they can’t work from home, their pay checks vanish during business shutdowns.
The persistent and unremitting history of targeting America’s Black population has evolved into systemic devastation in every aspect of their lives that shockingly includes being afraid to walk out of their own homes. According to Isabel Wilkerson, journalist and author, our nation has a caste system similar to the one in India, with Black Americans at the lowest level (American Indians having been banished to remote areas). Being at the bottom, was first forced on the Black population by cruel laws which have since ended. Wilkerson argues, though, that the caste system “live[s] on in hearts and habits” of our personal lives, as well as, in our organizations and societal norms. A caste system, by design, keeps everyone in unchanged fixed positions.
The Black Lives Matter protests have, however, united people from all walks of life and have occurred around the world to condemn the treatment of Black Americans. These protests against police brutality seem to be part of a new awakening that we humans are responsible for the safety of one another. When a vulnerable person is targeted with assault, we stand up, speak out and protect that individual. The protest sign, “White Silence = Violence” expressed unequivocally that being silent bystanders aids the perpetrators. Certainly, our Jewish history of being a vulnerable group does unite us with all who suffer from flagrant injustices.
I would be remiss, also, not to include the injustices against nature that allowed COVID-19 to spread. Scientists have provided solid evidence that demands for natural resources have, for example, stripped lands of thick forests which are habitats of wild animals. Wild animals, that are carriers of lethal pathogens, consequently, come into contact with people. Humans are susceptible to an assortment of these microbes (Ebola, SARS, MERS) and the deadly COVID-19 which have caused global epidemics since 2002. We must stop our aggressions of invading wildlife environments; 70% of human infectious diseases originate in animals. The editors of Scientific American stated bluntly, “To stop pandemics, stop deforestation.” And we can succeed by respecting this earth and purposefully managing a balance between nature and people.
On several points, the pandemic has exposed what America has become, though, we have the collective strength to forge new paths for a more just nation. We must be clear that we are a singular family of humanity that accepts and respects one another, and this earth is our only safe haven.
By Mary Greenberg
Special to The Chronicle
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Chronicle.
Mary Greenberg, Ph.D., serves on the State of Kansas Holocaust Commission. Her speaking engagements on preventing anti-Semitism, and the link between civil leadership and anti-Semitism are based on her research that advances the study of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. She is dedicated, also, to writing about the beauty of Jewish life and its deeply principled values.
