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Let’s talk about re-calibration.

I am crafting a piece for Lace on Race that speaks to this very thing.

In the past days and weeks, we have seen upheavals in things that were considered unshakable and incontestable; who are truly essential in this society; who are considered disposable; the relationship between employers and workers; our relationships with ourselves and with the wider world.

We will not emerge from this, any of us, unscathed. Institutions will be given greater scrutiny, as they should be.

When all of us are at our regular workstations, we will look at each other, at those in charge of us, and the organizations which hold us differently.

Already we have seen this. The query in my mind, that I do not think is too early to contemplate, is what all this will mean for us going forward.

We have seen the fissures that have turned into gaping holes from many fronts; the supply chain; the healthcare system; government; our workplaces–corporations, education, transportation, all of it. The service economy which now drives America has had a glaring spotlight turned upon it. The people who deliver the services we depend upon and now demand are also on the front lines of a virus we sequester ourselves from. Millions now working from home now challenge the need for cubicle and face time.

And so on.

There is no way we can not see the chinks in the armor that is America. Thinking of ourselves as only an economy, and ourselves only as consumers, as opposed to seeing ourselves as interconnected citizens (I use that term broadly) in a society one can try, but ultimately fail to absent oneself from may be a luxury we no longer have.

There is no way anyone can blow off the need for a system that truly serves all. There is no way that profiteering from various sectors, be it healthcare profits; paying inflated prices for goods we need to survive; putting employees in harm’s way for short term gain; forgetting about those who have seen a threadbare safety net completely dissolve can be unseen; no way that the consequences of those in power, be it macro power or micro power cannot be observed, sometimes with satisfaction; most times with horror.

I am thinking about all of these things, both with and without the additional layer of race.

I am wondering if you are asking questions too. About society at large, and about yourselves. Who were you before? Who are you now? Who will you become?

Comments greatly encouraged.

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