An actual “diary” diary by Hal Brown
Some newer readers may wonder why essays and stories posted by community members are sometimes called dairies and their writers were called diarists. This goes back to the earlier days of Daily Kos. I don’t know why the word was selected. Of course a diary is a book in which one keeps a daily record of events and experiences. Only a few of the posts meet this criteria. This post is an actual diary.
I actually managed to have a good night sleep despite my anticipating my second Moderna Covid-19 vaccination with a certain amount of trepidation what with me being a big baby when it comes to pain. I had one friend tell me about her reactions to her second shot and she had all of the adverse reactions (except the fever) laying her up feeling utterly miserable for almost two days. (Photo of me getting my first vaccination.)
I know that if you have side effects it shows that the vaccine is working but the side effects of the second shot can at worst be debilitating:
But the second dose of both vaccines has quickly gained a reputation for packing a punch, with side effects that may include fatigue, chills, headache, muscle aches and pains, and even a fever. “More people — 40 to 50 percent — experience some of these symptoms to one degree or another after the second vaccine,” Schaffner says. This happens because “your immune system is starting to work and cope with the stimulus that comes from the vaccine — so in a sense it's a good thing.” AARP article
So there I was having slept well from when I went to sleep at 9 AM until 5 AM, looking forward to a nice drive into the countryside south of Portland on picturesque road (photo on right) which runs along the Willamette River to a big box Fred Meyers store in a small town called Canby. I was not beset with anticipatory anxiety over the aftereffects of the shot having run over the various scenarios in my my and mentally prepared myself fo dealing with them if I was on the wrong end of the misery scale.
Then the story about the Georgia man who murdered he people in Georgia came on MSNBC. I read the following (emphasis added):
Police stressed that it was too early to announce a motive—but at least four of those killed were of Korean descent, and the horrific attacks come amid a wave of targeted violence against the Asian-American community.
A trickle of details about the suspect, who went by his middle name, offered few clues.
“Pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God. This pretty much sums up my life. It’s a pretty good life,” read the tagline on an Instagram account that appeared to belong to.
A student who graduated from Sequoyah High with Long in 2017 who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Daily Beast, “He was very innocent seeming and wouldn’t even cuss. He was sorta nerdy and didn’t seem violent from what I remember. He was a hunter and his father was a youth minister or pastor. He was big into religion.” Daily Beast
He believes, or believed, that he had pretty good life thanks to pizza, guns, drums, music, family, and God.
Earlier it was being speculated that the killer’s motivation was hatred of Asian-Americans. Now it is being revealed that he claimed was acting on a belief that the massage parlors were immoral. Frank Figliuzzi just speculated on MSNBC that it might be related to the Incel movement or an addiction to sex.
Now the discussion on MSNBC has moved from this crime to covering the dramatic increase in crimes against Asian- Americans and how Trump was largely responsible for this.
Regardless of this man’s motivation, I can see another other white person hating particular groups of people in this era having the flames of this and other hatred fanned by Trump’s demonization of BLM protestors and Antifa, people from Latin-America, and Muslims.
I know from talking to my friends who are Chinese and from reading about the history of prejudice and discrimination against Asian-Americans. Having been born in 1944 after World War II when we were fighting Japan and there were interment camps in the United States so I only heard about anti-Japanese sentiment as I was older.
I never lived through a time when news about anti-Asian bigotry was front and center.
Needless to point out, in 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. A year ago a virus which originated in another Asian country made its way here, not on six aircraft carriers but some came on a cruise ship, the Diamond Princess (as well as from Europe but I like the ship comparison).
There was no rational reason why Covid-19 becoming a pandemic would lead to hatred of the Chinese, China as a country, or of all Asians.
It all boils down to one person: Donald Trump. He did more than pour high octane fuel on the embers of preexisting anti-Asian sentiment which, let’s face it wasn't high on the list of groups which bigoted white Americans hated. First on the bigots list was always black Americans. Muslims and Latinos didn’t even make it onto the list until Donald Trump came along.
These are just people whose skin doesn't happen to be white. Trump has also added to the list of those who must be hated anyone who opposes him, even his own whiter than white the pasty faced former Vice President.
It is now a cliche to say that never in American history has there been a president who has engendered more hate against more groups than Donald Trump. This is a president who, after all, announced his presidential bid by accusing Mexico of sending people bringing drugs, criminals and rapists, promising to build a Great Wall on the nation's southern border and vowing to end the president's immigration executive action.
This is an interactive map from the Southern Poverty Law Center which, dare I say, would look very different had not Trump become president.
Obviously hate, bigotry, and discrimination against “the other” has existed in the United States going back to colonial days. There were times when it was in the open. Native-Americans were considered as less than human by some early settlers. In you face racism was prevalent from the days of slavery though the time before the KKK was reined in and during the fight for civil rights in the 1950 and 60’s.
In the poll consider how responsible Trump has been for provoking people to act out violently against people of other races, ethnic groups, and religions.