One city: two pandemics

 After submitting a large midterm paper last Friday, I determined I needed to go home. Home for me is Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to going to the University of Kentucky, I attended a school located in the downtown area (called Presentation). This being said, downtown Louisville has become a second home for me. So of course, on my way home, I had to drive through the area. My heart has been absolutely broken. I've known the protests occurring here have been extensive, and I've heard they've been increasingly destructive, but words can not match up to the sights I saw. Every single business, house, car, and restaurant had been boarded up with the remains of their shattered windows on the ground beneath them. The trash cans charred, showing remnants of flames. Scattered flyers and posters lay discarded in random places, all reading "Say her name". The once vibrant 4th street live is boarded up and quiet, as if it's trying to hide. I received an alert Friday night saying someone had set off some type of small, home made bomb in my high school's parking lot. They had shattered the glass doors and broken the beautiful stained glass windows that have been there for over a century. I'm not discrediting the cause, nor am I speaking in hate, but I'm speaking in pain for the city I love. It seems as though we truly are facing a second pandemic, and If I'm being truly honest, I don't know which is more looming. 

In reference to COVID-19, I think these large massed protests, in which many are not wearing masks, pose a threat to public health. Once again, not discrediting the cause, but from a public safety stand-point, it rises many COVID related risks. Some individuals I know that live in Louisville and participate in these protests have said, "Yes we are aware there is a pandemic going on. But are you aware there has been one happening for centuries? COVID-19 MIGHT kill us, but I KNOW racism will kill me." While there is a lot to be unpacked in this statement, it allows for an insight on the mindset of those participating. So often you set back and wonder how are they not concerned for their health and safety? and reading that statement allows you to see that they really are.