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Editorial / Column
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Don’t Let Fear Cripple You
Paranoia. Webster’s Dictionary defines the term as, "a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward irrational sus- piciousness and distrustful- ness of others."
I don't think there's a word that better describes what the atmosphere is like in this country as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be a front page story. The near constant coverage of new cases has people so afraid of becoming infected that just being in the immediate vicin- ity of a light cough sends the average person running for cover.
I guess this kind of behav- ior shouldn't be unexpected. It is what usually happens when people feel as though their lives could be threat- ened by a virus with a grow- ing death rate.
And now, with reports of the contagion beginning to rapidly spread, we're starting to see the panic level reach a fever pitch. The level of fear has become so elevated that, not only are people clearing the shelves of grocery stores in anticipation of possible quarantines but, some cities and organizations are ex- hibiting high anxiety as well.
Cruise ships are being de- nied entry into certain ports because of rumors indicating the vessels may be contami- nated. Airline flights are tak- ing off without passengers. And even the NCAA is con- templating whether or not they should have fans attend
their tournament games dur- ing March Madness?
The craziest thing, though, is the new advisory the CDC issued on how to greet people in this burgeon- ing crisis. Instead of hand- shakes, medical experts say it will be better to give, what can only be described as, elbow daps.
Other doctors have indi- cated that the awkward back arm greeting may still allow for infection and are advising people to employ the "Wuhan Handshake" (named after the city the virus is said to have origi- nated from). Rather than al- lowing for any form of contact between upper ex- tremities, the Wuhan hand- shake simply calls for a foot tap, a move that is extremely reminiscent of the old Kid N' Play kick dance from the late 80s.
While I personally feel as though the world is overre- acting to the situation, it would be irresponsible for me to say that there's ab- solutely nothing to worry about at this point. With some scientists estimating that more than 60% of the global population could come down with this bug, there is indeed some cause for concern. But, at the same time, I don't think that be- coming germ-fearing re- cluses will get us anywhere either.
The more people become paranoid the more govern- ments will feel the need to
respond in an effort to avert potential chaos. There is al- ready serious discussion about postponing the 2020 Olympics in an effort to keep the virus from spreading even further.
If that happens, and the things become exponentially worse over the summer, it's not a stretch to assume that the U. S. government may also feel the need to come up with a contingency plan for the General Election in No- vember, as well.
That could translate to Donald Trump issuing an executive order sometime in August stipulating that, due to public safety concerns, all voting ballots would have to be done absentee. A move that will, most likely, benefit Trump and ensure his stay in office four more years by default.
Whether you believe in the conspiracy theory that says COVID-19 is a man made biological weapon being used to shrink the pop- ulation, think it's a curse from God or subscribe to the notion that it was created by nature itself to rid the Earth of pesky humans, the bottom line when it comes to this thing is survival. And that in- volves beefing up your im- mune system by utilizing copper, that has an adverse effect on germs, for the out- side of your body and ingest- ing zinc, which is known to prevent viruses from metas- tasizing, for your inside.
A vicious storm may be on the horizon but, if you pre- pare yourself ahead of time for its impact, you can defi- nitely prevent being washed away.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbar- ronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
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Protecting Black Cemeteries
e have been wondering how in the world build-
ing contractors could not detect graves on school, apartment, business, and high-rise construc- tion sites. Moreover, how could we, as a people, allow our ancestors’ cemeteries to be forgotten? Indeed, the recent discoveries of old cemeteries all over America having been covered over, beg for a remedy.
Rural communities appear to do a pretty good job of maintaining their cemeteries because many of them are owned by rural churches. However, because of church closings, aging populations, and younger gen- eration’s tendencies to move out of rural communities and not returning to their rural roots, even some of the rural cemeteries are at risk of being forgotten.
There are no secrets that the Post Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras contractors who built large schools and other buildings could care less about the bodies of dead African Americans. In fact, during those eras, they didn’t even consider us to be human. Thus; it was easy to destroy Black cemeteries.
Going forward perhaps national church leadership of different denominations should consider identifica- tion, adoption, oversight, and ownership of America’s historically Black cemeteries to avoid and prevent the desecration of our loved ones in the future.
Assuming the care and maintenance of our cemeter- ies by churches will insure the perpetuation of the cemeteries and prevent the sale of private and publicly owned cemeteries to developers who then resell the land to private entities who have no vested interests in the history of the land.
By the year 3020, the question begs what will have happened to all of the Black cemeteries. Only perpetual organizations can retain continuity of our cemeteries. What do you think of the idea?
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