A Haircut vs. Covid-19

By Hank Silverberg

I have lost count of how many days it’s been since Virginians were ordered to “stay home.” I have had a few excursions to the supermarket wearing a mask where many people, after standing outside on a line for a while, had a "get me out of here" look in their eyes. I’ve gone to local restaurants a few times to pick up take-out food at curbside where I was startled that the people who brought out the food were not wearing gloves or masks. But other than that, like millions of Americans, I'm staying home. My Zoom lectures to my college students have become easier to manipulate technically, but it has been harder for us all to engage in the meaningful dialogue that enhances education. Like a lot of people I don't miss my commute, but Zoom fatigue has hit the country in many places. 

So now we have a small minority of people going out and staging protests, demanding that things be re-opened. It seems they all need a haircut, to get their nails done or a tattoo or spend time on the beach. That’s what is re-opening first in Georgia. 

I, too, need a haircut. My beard, which I usually get trimmed about once a month, is overdue and looks scraggly. My hair is over my ears for the first time since graduate school over 40 years ago. But there is no way I am going back to a “normal routine” with the death toll still mounting from the coronavirus. Social distancing seems to be working to slow down new outbreaks and I am ready to wait it out another month or two if necessary, to protect myself, my family and my neighbors.  But even when the “all clear” is given, I’m not sure I will be shaking anybody’s hand in the near future. And the thought of a barber breathing down my neck as he cuts my hair and trims my beard gives me the shivers, even if he is wearing a mask.  

 The “new normal” is going to be very different.  It could be a long time before people get back on cruise ships-- especially older folks who make up a huge portion of such travel. I will be just a bit more cautious in my contact with students if we go back to “in-person” classes in the fall. I probably won’t walk out between their seats as much as I used to, and I will definitely do less on paper to limit its exchange.

Before all this happened my wife and I had talked about spending a long weekend at the beach somewhere this summer. But now, even if everything opens back up in August, I’m not sure I could sit on a crowded beach. Maybe we can find a remote one. 

I suppose if you are younger and in good health, you are willing to take the risk even now. But for the sake of the rest of us, wait a few more weeks. 

If you have been working all this time outside the home as an “essential” worker, you have my respect and my thanks. 

Then there is this:

Remember all those immigrants trying to get into this country who were put in detention centers along the southwest border? they have pretty much been forgotten amid the pandemic. They too are in danger of getting the coronavirus.  At the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego, more than 100 detainees and staff members have tested positive for the virus. A local California Assemblywoman named Lorena Gonzalez, who represents the area, tried to donate a thousand masks and other protective gear to the center for staff and detainees.  She was turned down, and turned away.  

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-25/advocates-with-mask-donation-turned-away-from-san-diego-immigration-detention-center

The center is privately run, which means it operates for profit. A spokesman is quoted in The LA Times says the staff and "inmates" already have protective gear, but you have to wonder why they turned down this offer with no strings attached. Some things just don’t make sense. This is one of them. 

Of note, something that does make complete sense:

The head of the Marine Corps has now banned the Confederate Battle Flag or other Confederate paraphernalia from all Marine Corps installations around the world.

Commandant David H. Berger says “the symbol has the power to inflame division,” Indeed it does.

Those who fly that flag, or use it in other ways, often claim they are just showing their pride in “southern heritage,” but of course that heritage includes slavery, Jim Crow and the KKK. White supremacists have used that flag for decades to promote their cause and for many people, especially black Americans, it is nothing but a symbol of hate and intolerance.   

(This huge flag flies on private property
 along I-95 just north of Fredericksburg,VA) 

https://www.stripes.com/news/marine-corps/marine-commandant-defends-banning-confederate-flag-as-a-divisive-symbol-1.627167

Its likeness has already been removed from the capitals of several southern states, but resistance remains in others. That flag keeps  turning up at many demonstrations, including the violent and deadly one in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. 

We have been reminded of that in recent weeks where it has been displayed at some Covid-19 "lock down" protests. Anti-Semitic tropes and Nazi flags have also been displayed at some of those demonstrations, a few of them right next to Trump-Pence campaign signs.  

It again brings up old wounds that don’t seem to heal. The Civil War was a seminal event in U.S. history. More than 600,000 Americans died either in combat or as a result of the war. More than four million slaves were legally freed, though it took more than a century for black Americans to reap any real benefit from that freedom because of ongoing racism--racism that lingers today. 

I live about 27 miles from Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, VA. It is a sprawling U.S. Army training center that was established in early 1941 during the build-up to World War Two. 

 It is named after Confederate Lt. General A.P. Hill of Virginia, who commanded Confederate troops at some of the bloodiest Civil War battles including Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He died from wounds at Petersburg in 1865.  

The Fort is one of ten named after Confederate generals. Several of those installations play key roles in the U. S. Army’s  readiness, including  Fort (Braxton) Bragg in North Carolina, the largest military installation in the world, and Fort (John Bell) Hood in Texas. Why are Confederate generals, who fought against the U.S. Army and technically committed treason, honored in this way? 

An answer lies in early 20^th Century politics, when wounds of the Civil War had not lost their stitches, segregation was still a way of life,  and southern politicians needed

(Ft. Hood in Texas is named after Conf. 
Gen. John Bell Hood,
Courtesy, NPS) 

to attract votes. But I must wonder why those names still endure now. Isn’t it time for the Army to banish all Confederate symbols as well, including the names of Confederate generals on Army bases? They, too, may be a "symbol that has the power to inflame division."

The “Stars and Bars,” as the flag is often called, belongs in museums and history books along with the names Lee, Benning and Pickett, instead of adorning U.S. military bases.

As I have mentioned before, I live in Virginia. Some southerners are going to be mad at me for suggesting this. But the south lost a war that was fought to defend evil (slavery), and to honor its warriors and symbols keeps old wounds festering. It does an injustice to all who died in that conflict to insure freedom and save the United States. We seriously need to think about what message we are sending to our grandchildren and future generations.   

In my effort to end each blog with some entertainment, this week it's http://www.musiccares.com/  a group of musicians raising money for charity. You comments and suggestions are always welcome in the section provided below. 

(The price on the paperback version of my book “The Campaign” has been reduced. It continues to be available on Amazon.com, and BN. Com.  Or you may send me an email at hanksilverberg@gmail.com to get instructions to order a signed copy at a reduced price.)