COVID19 plus Racism plus Immigration this week are all in the news this past week. Political psychologist Dr. Bart Rossi, P.h.D. joins WINK News to discuss.
Rand Paul again challenged Dr. Fauchi over masks during a Senate hearing. But Senator Paul conflates two topics into one question. He argued that studies show that people who have had COVID19 (or those vaccinated), that their immunity makes masks irrelevant. What he fails to acknowledge is that there are several variants now permeating society.
Personally, I find the argument over masks absurd. At best, it will save 10’s of thousands of lives. At worst, people wear masks for a year and it has little effect, and so what? It’s a f#cking mask, not handcuffs. If there is a 10% chance it will end the pandemic sooner, and save lives, it seems a no-brainer to use them. With the breakouts of new variants, it would seem that politicians would have learned from their denial of science to cater to their base in 2020 that resulted in 400,000 deaths. (see the video debate here)
But it wasn’t just COVID19 in the national debate today: it was COVID19 plus Racism plus Immigration.
The shooting in Georgia this week and the death of 6 of the 8 victims Asian-American women, has brought hate crime discussion back to the national debate. During the Trump presidency, there was an uptick in hate crimes. In a New York Times article in November 2020, entitled Hate Crimes in U.S. Rose to Highest Level in More Than a Decade in 2019, they noted that:
Hate crimes in the United States rose to their highest level in more than a decade last year, while more murders motivated by hate were recorded than ever before, the F.B.I. said on Monday.
According to People Magazine, 2020 saw a 150% increase in hate crimes against Asian-Americans. President Biden and Vice President Harris quickly condemned the attacks and scheduled meetings with leaders in the Asian-American community.
The F.B.I and Department of Homeland Security both raised concerns over the rising threat of White Supremacists as national terrorists back in 2020. This is a topic that is expected to become a focus of the Biden Department of Justice.
COVID19 plus Racism plus Immigration this week
Immigration at the border has been a problem for decades after decades. And while Trump untook some 400 executive actions, the stats show that despite the loud cries about illegal immigration from Mexico, that those numbers have steadily declined beginning in 2010 through 2020. A chart in Forbes Magainze highlights it:
Table 1: Undocumented Immigrant Population in the United States
Year | Undocumented Population |
---|---|
2010 | 11,725,000 |
2011 | 11,315,000 |
2012 | 11,110,000 |
2013 | 11,010,000 |
2014 | 11,045,000 |
2015 | 11,045,000 |
2016 | 10,790,000 |
2017 | 10,640,000 |
2018 | 10,565,000 |
2019 | 10,350,000 |
President Biden still has challenges to overcome.
IN THIS ESPISODE
Dr. Bart Rossi addressing each of these three topics with a focus on the psychology driving forces behind them