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Virus divides Americans into the careful and cavalier

Ruben Navarrette Jr. on

SAN DIEGO -- For as long as I've written about race -- which is to say, 30 years and counting -- I've been told to not write about race.

After a recent column that had nothing to do with race -- or ethnicity, culture etc. -- a reader damned my effort with faint praise.

"Good article," he wrote. "And not pro Latino and not pro illegal immigrant for once."

I don't owe anyone an explanation for what I write, or don't write. But, were I to offer one, this would be where I invoke the journalist's creed to "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable."

In 2020, Latinos and immigrants are afflicted six ways from Sunday.

And so, I was surprised by a recent development: COVID-19 has made me "post-racial."

I still think about the fact that, in the epicenter of New York City, Latinos are being infected at rates that far exceed their percentage of the population. And I haven't lost sight of the reality that, just as Americans are obsessing more than usual over food and groceries, Latino farm workers are working in the fields and risking infection to preserve our food supply.

Still, for the most part, I no longer think as much about race or ethnicity as I used to before COVID-19 arrived on the scene -- killing more than 10,000 people in the United States, wrecking the U.S. economy by leaving millions unemployed, and turning our lives inside out.

These days, what interests me are the things that unite Americans -- like love and fear, i.e., love for our family members and fear that they could be infected -- rather than what divides us. Post-coronavirus, the usual dividing lines over race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, and immigration status don't seem so important after all.

The virus doesn't discriminate. Why should we?

Could this be where some have tried to push us for decades? Those made queasy by multiculturalism always invoke the motto: "E Pluribus Unum" (Out of Many, One). That phrase has been part of the nation's official seal since 1782, when an Act of Congress made it so.

Of course, over the last 238 years, the idea that Americans would ignore our differences and unite as one people has been aspirational at best. The recurring narrative of this country is that we always split up into two camps. Rich and poor. Black and white. North and South. Gay and straight. Immigrant and native-born.

National unity has always been an illusion, and even a global pandemic can't change that.

 

In fact, the coronavirus has brought with it a new kind of division. In one camp, those who take the threat seriously. In the other, those who don't. America is suddenly divided between the careful, and the cavalier.

Confronted with what President Trump calls a "monster," Americans are reacting like they live on different planets.

One group -- perhaps because they're over the age of 70, or plagued with underlying health issues like diabetes, heart problems, or high blood pressure -- hunkers down, wears masks, orders groceries delivered, and avoids going outside. The other group is still hiking and golfing, treating quarantine like a vacation, refusing to wear masks, and only adhering to directives to stop going to parks and beaches because local police officers began imposing fines and writing tickets.

One group isn't taking any chances because it realizes the stakes are too high, and that even a slight miscalculation could be deadly. The other group goes around saying "I feel fine" when what they really feel -- since they're under 70 years old, with no underlying medical issues -- is invincible.

I've become familiar with the new division, because it has now taken root in my own family.

In the "cavalier" camp, you'll find my 15-year-old daughter, who thinks her old man consumes an unhealthy amount of news

and worries too much about keeping everyone safe and healthy. She believes politicians and the media and politicians are exaggerating the threat. A few weeks ago, the argumentative know-it-all declared: "If I get it, so what? I'll get over it."

In the "careful" camp, there's my 48-year-old brother who has underlying health issues and cares for our parents -- who are in their 70s and have health problems of their own. He's focused on getting them safely through the crisis. He devours any news about the virus, including daily White House briefings. He doesn't have the luxury of saying: "I'll get over it."

This is the new divide in America. And it's based not on race, but on something that most Americans probably never thought much about: risk.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com. His daily podcast, "Navarrette Nation," is available through every podcast app.

(c) 2020, The Washington Post Writers Group


 

 

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