Twenty-twenty: Don’t Look Away
Twenty-twenty was full of lessons, but what have we learned?
Two thousand and twenty has been a challenging year for many, if not most. For many, it has felt like a year like no other, particularly in regard to negative events. Social media posts and memes wishing to forget 2020 or that it had never taken place are commonplace. I too, at times, have lamented 2020 and just wanted to wake up and realize it was all a bad dream. But 2020 is very real and full of lessons. Its events are not accidents or anomalies, but in fact the culmination happenings and circumstances long set in motion. We should not be looking away, but instead looking thoughtfully and critically at 2020 for the lessons we can learn and the growth we can realize.
Twenty-twenty is the result of ignored warnings and dismissed pain. For years and years Black people have decried police brutality and systemic racism, but it took the stillness of quarantine and a video of a police officer using his knee to slowly choke the life out of George Floyd for over eight excruciating minutes for many people to finally take heed. Marches, protests, corporate diversity and inclusion statements, and anti-racist reading lists followed, yet just last week Andre Hill was shot by a Columbus, Ohio police officer simply for being in a friend’s garage….
Then there is our health care system and general caring for others. Over three hundred thousand people in the U.S. have died of Covid-19, yet many go about their days desensitized, complaining about the loss of their fun and social activities while ignoring the loss of actual human beings. The job losses connected to the pandemic have left many struggling financially as well as uninsured. People in many jobs that have been essential during this time such as farm workers, grocery store employees, food service workers, and custodial staff, among many others, are often uninsured or underinsured. They risk exposure regularly, yet often can’t get the medical care they need if they fall ill. But we shouldn’t only care about this just because of Covid-19, this should always matter.
This year has also forced many parents to juggle working from home with no childcare while simultaneously remote schooling their children. This is particularly challenging for those with young children who generally can’t handle remote schooling unassisted. In addition, studies have shown that these pandemic arrangements have disproportionately impacted women and have had a negative impact on the careers of many women. Our current circumstances have also shined a light on the struggles of childcare providers and how difficult it is for daycares and other childcare services to stay afloat without support. We are also seeing the digital divide magnified, as we see how many people lack stable internet access. And in relation to education, beyond internet access, we must ask, what is really being assessed during this pandemic, knowledge and skills, or the parents and caretakers’ ability to help their children keep up?
There are so many other lessons 2020 is showing us, like clear smog free skies during large scale quarantines; the fragility of our democracy as some continue to attempt to undermine the result of a legitimate election. Other issues and questions have risen to the surface as well: consumerism, relationships, social connections, priorities, and this list just scratches the surface. So, 2020 is not a year that should be forgotten or wished away. Twenty-twenty has simply made us face issues that have always been there in a way we can’t ignore. The question now is what we do….
