Thoughts on the Economy Amid Covid-19 and Protests: Will we reopen?

Before you read anything I’ve written below, check out these organizations, donate what you can, and understand their mission:

Reclaim the Block: https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/home/#about

Sanctuary Covenant Church: https://sanctuarycov.org/

Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Equal Justice Initiative: https://eji.org/

Two things can be simultaneously true. Truth can be carried by duality. I can love my daughter and be disappointed in her behavior. Those two truths do not cancel each other out. You can have a different experience than someone else that you can’t relate with. Institutions we love could also be perpetrators of mass injustice. Rioting can cause destruction but can also bring about massive change.

We can be upset that businesses were destroyed and still focus on the message behind Breonna Taylor and George Floyd: not one more black man should die at the hands of police, not one more black woman should be shot in her own home. We must be capable of navigating dualities if we want to see true change in our communities. Dualities are uncomfortable. Having complex narratives causes tension, especially because as humans we want simple narratives. We don’t want to dive deep, because that would require us to not believe a simple narrative. Diving deep might mean we won’t be able to fully trust the white dude screaming in his car at us on a YouTube video, or media personalities dropping 1-minute videos sharing a quick opinion. Life is complex, and narratives are not simple.

I feel the tension saying that our institutions are broken, inherently racist, and needing revolutionary reform, all while loving and caring for people who work in those systems currently. Both of these can be true.

I feel the tension saying that many people I work with in my industry (financial services and banking) are great people, but my industry has historically priced out black men and women, especially women. I work in a system that has inherent racism.

I feel the tension saying that black Americans experience a different justice system than I do. A system that was designed to protect every American has failed their basic responsibility and has constantly incarcerated minorities for crimes that they never committed. However, there are people who work in this system and are fighting like hell to bring some equality and equity out of it.

I feel the tension saying that our healthcare system is skeptical of black Americans’ ailments, causing higher mortality rates, especially for pregnant black women.  Yet, there are people in this system who are working in overdrive to provide quality care.

We can break this down more and more, especially as we look at our education system, places of worship, real estate, infrastructure, and venture capitalism. We should do that. The question is where we go from here. Will we ever reopen and recover from Covid? The answer is yes, but the opportunity ahead of us will be challenging. It will be easy to build up our economy relying on our normal institutions, but we have an opportunity to rebuild more equitably if we are willing to sacrifice and be intentional.

Personal Accountability

Listen. When it comes to what you can do, the first thing is listen. White people especially should be intentional about reading books by black Americans, following diverse leaders, watching black and minority entertainment, etc., all while acknowledging that what we see/read/hear is likely not be the full story of the black American experience. I need to listen to stories, seek out different perspectives, and challenge the presumption that I have arrived at a full understanding. I need to absorb more. I, as a white man, do not understand the Black American experience.

Educate ourselves. I need to process through other experiences than my own. I do this by listening, but also by intentionally seeking out material and research. I have countless white friends who lived in extreme poverty, had a single parent on different welfare programs, and who had to work extra hard to just get where they are now. No one wants to discredit those stories or argue that those experiences are not true. However, your experience as a white individual is still wildly different than that of a black man or woman. We educate ourselves by seeking out the information that is not just on social media, but by doing actual research studies on this subject.

Empower the Black and Minority Economy. The underlying problem in our society, and one that needs far more attention than this post, is poverty. The wealth gap is massive. No matter which way we spin it, money will always be power. Cash will always be king. If you want to see radical change, invest in a more equitable economy. Though I am rather pragmatic in most of my progressive views, I understand change is difficult. However, we have an opportunity to switch our practices fast. This might mean sacrificing spending on what we typically do to invest in what we typically do not. If we want to see radical change, we must be willing to go without something. If we see a system that we know needs change, we need to sacrifice investing in that institution. I love the work that Samaritan’s Purse did, but I could not give money to this institution based on who their leader was. Instead, I gave financial support elsewhere. I need to put my money where my mouth is by spending on black artists, black businesses, black restaurants, black authors, black poets, black tech companies, black innovators, black causes, black churches, black distilleries, black breweries, black athletes, black colleges… Many of us may not intentionally leave these communities out when spending money, but that is the precise problem: we have not been intentional about keeping them in.

Push Your Communities to Invite Diversity. I have been a Christian and attended church my whole life. Most of my faith is through the lens of white ministers, mostly male. I can remember listening to a black female minister preach, and it felt radical to me. What she was preaching was not radical, but my lack of exposure made my experience feel heightened. There is tension I feel because most of my community is white, with a few exceptions. Most of my workplaces have been predominantly white. Most of my church communities have been white. My college experience was mostly white. Board rooms I have walked into are predominantly white. Worship leaders and ministers in my circle are nearly all white. The best advice given to me relating to this is to hire, collaborate, prop up, defend, and give your platform to minorities. Being intentional drives massive changes in institutions. We can’t allow this mission to be co-opted by those who just call this being politically correct. It is understanding that our economy flourishes when we have more participants. The fragility of our communities becomes less powerful when we have a diversity of experiences.

Call for Reform. One of the most powerful platforms we have for change is electing officials who will work to dramatically drive policy decisions for the benefit of our communities. Electing officials who desire to invest in tactics that promote an equitable and safe society for the many minorities, including black men and women, who have been silenced is one of the most tangible moves we can make. Police brutality can be true, even though there are good cops in the system who permit that brutality. We are seeing first hand the militarization of our police force. We are meeting protestors with tear gas. Reform is not just a heart issue, it is our institution that needs reform. Policies need to be enacted to bring real justice. We cannot train cops to be good when the system permits them to never have to change their behavior in the long run. Better training will not be enough. We need policies that protect black and minority men, women, and children. We hear the phrase often “well, if they didn’t resist” or “well, if they didn’t break the law.” The problem is not about resisting or breaking the law, it is how we enforce laws. As a white man, there are laws that I break routinely, jaywalk, run a red light, roll a stop sign, speed, etc… When I break these laws, I do not fear being arrested, fear being ticketed, or fear death. This experienced is not shared by many other Americans, especially black Americans. If some of us can ignore laws, and others can’t, it means the law is not fairly enforced. Jane Coaston puts it best “The Constitution guarantees [now] all Americans equal protection under the law. But clearly, it does not guarantee all Americans equal protection from the law.” We should all agree that no person should ever have to say "I Can't Breathe" after being arrested.

White people are the majority in this country. The majority have a responsibility to the minority. We have to be intentional about inclusion, through word and deed, and defend their rights as a human and citizen. It is incumbent on us. We need to slow our roll, and stop caveating every thing with “but rioting is bad” and “not all police are bad” because these simple narratives are easily rebutted, creating circle arguments. There would not be rioting if police didn’t brutally murder Breonna Taylor or George Floyd. There would be fewer bad apples if we had a system enforced to hold them accountable for their actions. The question I ask my self is- how far am I willing to go to enact this change in my life?

What do we do now with Covid-19

 The pandemic is still going on, and there is still no national strategy. Black Americans are dying at 4x the rate of white Americans. Our national leaders have failed. Vaccines are still a ways off, and current break throughs have a lot of holes. Our economy will be different when it reopens, and you have the opportunity for huge change. This pandemic has exposed just how weak our economy is and how important it is to protect vulnerable communities. There are still many questions looming. There will be large changes moving forward.

This pandemic will continue. There will be huge spikes and big drops that will hurt us. Modest estimates show that this pandemic alone could cost us over $7.9 trillion over the next decade alone. Many businesses are not going to reopen. Many Americans are still unemployed, and even though the technical claims are going down, we still have an unprecedented number of unemployed Americans.

What we do now is stick to some personal principals:

-Continue to be cautious with interactions and be protective. I am grateful for protesters, but be cautious.

-Continue to cut expenses because there will be a time to come when your finances are needed.

-Continue to save money.

-Chat with someone about your finances.

Covid-19 is still here, and we have to navigate a world with the reality of diseases, protecting the vulnerable, standing up against police brutality, and doing things that are hard. When we have a personal game plan on the back side, we have a foundation to fight on the front side.