Post by lebarton on Jun 16, 2020 15:36:53 GMT -6
How can I be "anti-racist"? Immediately, in empathy with the times, I shall post an excerpt of James Baldwin and try to realign myself with the just side of history, while celebrating the black culture which my light-skinned father raised me on. Though in my more immediate surroundings I must consider, “am I racist because I eat from a local restaurant?” I might be! If the kitchen staff is of Latin-American descent and they have been forbidden to be paid overtime so that the proprietor doesn’t have to pay them out of pocket, even though the expenses of the restaurant are being covered by a loan which is “covering” the losses incurred during the county shutdown in addition to all “reopening” expenses; and that more work is now required of kitchen and wait staff to comply with the state’s food industry safety recommendations without a pay raise, all the while that fat juicy burger still slides down my gullet so nicely! I am at least an asshole, a racist I’m not sure, certainly not in a completely conscious aspect. My participation in this moral issue may only be economic, or at least for now a solution can be approached from this limited view. So to boycott systemic racism, or systemic slavery in my local community, the one control point I have is to stop putting money in businesses that treat employees likes slaves, pay them as slaves and punish them as slaves, which is more prevalent than I have heard admitted to. Marfa, it can be admitted, has it's own overarching element of neglecting the poor just as many other cities in this nation. State and federal programs historically under-provide for rural areas and we are left with little to spend on health and education concerns, so we are told. We have no racial violence in this community as we are seeing across the nation, but in the slow burning, complete and constant racism which utters so low to the ground that it goes unnoticed (unacknowledged), we participate in exploits unbothered. To be a modern slave is not just a race issue. Human trafficking, a global concern which destroys the invisible children of the world, does not restrict it’s interests to a certain race, it finds anyone in the heights of desperation and exploits them as needed.
I do not despise those who are rich. The vanity of despising the rich has been belabored over and does not interest me. Rich people in fact can be valuable to everyone, though how valuable is still a choice that is their own. Would a micro-community that has access to midwives, psychologists and naturopaths, alternative lines of credit and a cooperative food supply system need to rely on tourism (or the rich) so heavily? no it would not. What will necessitate wide transitions within a small community, new patterns which would have to be interesting and useful to endure? A hope would be that our relationships might be conjured up differently, that they would bring us more energy, as opposed to merely relating to one another on issues which are not pertinent to our specific community.
Any institution that wants to show that it stands for compassion and fairness could do a lot better than posturing. By what deeds are you uplifting the community which houses you? Start by creating a paid position which addresses the issue of your complacency, thoroughly consider how you have been asleep! If the world is somewhat fair, and it certainly is, be sure that any legacy you are expecting will be laughed out of history if you exist only for the sake of yourself, neglecting those who are not like you.
Would it cost so much to subsidize a portion of city health funds to employ a certified depth-psychologist to parents, school children, city service employees and the elderly, or should we continue to suffer quietly in a corner as we wave to one another, masquerading as a Paradise? The World Health Organization has classified an aspect of human life called “Disability Affected Life Years” or “DALYS”, referring to the quality of life in the laters years of your existence on Earth. The WHO has researched quite thoroughly the potential factors which place one in a disabled state of mental and physical health: stress, depression, anxiety, malnutrition, substance abuse, domestic stress, etc. Particularly interesting is the projection from a WHO study in 1993 which projects that by 2020, depression would become the leading cause of disability-affected-life-years, surpassing heart disease. I have no way of confirming wether or not that projection was reached.
Would it cost the city so much to upgrade our water supply to a “Superior” class of filtration, as do our neighbors to the North? No it wouldn’t, considering that the onset of Dental Fluorosis is anticipated by high fluoride levels in the access points of our water supply. Dental Fluorosis disproportionately affects those from birth up to age 8, rendering the permanent set of teeth with withering enamel and weakened gums. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral, but the US Public Health Service has made a very public recommendation of safe “drinking standards”, which is specifically 1.5 ppm (parts per million). A study conducted in 1961 by the Texas Board of Water Engineers showed that 6 out 7 water samples in Presidio County far exceeded that recommendation. So given that the various wells which supply the city of Marfa and Sal Si Puedes are at different depths, then it would be very fair and anti-racist if the main distribution point to the city’s water lines be upgraded and replaced where necessary, providing all citizens with water classified as “safe” for drinking (the aforementioned study of our county water table, linked below, shows that deeper wells consistently contain higher fluoride). The mineral known as “lead” is a less-spoken about concern, but it shouldn’t be, considering that when lead is boiled for drink or food preparation, it solidifies, becoming all the more lethal to the human body. The EPA has designated all levels of lead to be unsafe for human consumption, especially in children.
Only because I can afford a large cylindrical, chrome-finished tower of “pure” water, is this my only right to it, that I can afford it and so may drink from it? On a technicality, that feels like I’m purchasing a more “filtered” existence than that of my brother or sister. My right to use private capital on a clearer cup of water. So my neighbors, I have just pathetically explained one possible aspect of a certain portion of my privileged existence which does indeed set me apart from my brother or sister, who may be an American of African descent or an American of Latin-American descent (those which live in abundance here). A HEADLINE COMES TO MIND:
“MARFA CARES ABOUT IT’S CHILDREN’S TEETH, DECIDES FLUOROSIS IS RACIST”
“MARFA DECIDES EVENTS WITH FREE LIQUOR ARE A WASTE OF TIME, UPGRADES WATER SUPPLY INSTEAD”
“SMILES ON THE RISE”
www.twdb.texas.gov/publications/reports/bulletins/doc/B6110.pdf
(3M makes a very affordable under-counter kitchen filter for 99% chlorine and lead removal, 20 minutes to install with a screwdriver)
I do not despise those who are rich. The vanity of despising the rich has been belabored over and does not interest me. Rich people in fact can be valuable to everyone, though how valuable is still a choice that is their own. Would a micro-community that has access to midwives, psychologists and naturopaths, alternative lines of credit and a cooperative food supply system need to rely on tourism (or the rich) so heavily? no it would not. What will necessitate wide transitions within a small community, new patterns which would have to be interesting and useful to endure? A hope would be that our relationships might be conjured up differently, that they would bring us more energy, as opposed to merely relating to one another on issues which are not pertinent to our specific community.
Any institution that wants to show that it stands for compassion and fairness could do a lot better than posturing. By what deeds are you uplifting the community which houses you? Start by creating a paid position which addresses the issue of your complacency, thoroughly consider how you have been asleep! If the world is somewhat fair, and it certainly is, be sure that any legacy you are expecting will be laughed out of history if you exist only for the sake of yourself, neglecting those who are not like you.
Would it cost so much to subsidize a portion of city health funds to employ a certified depth-psychologist to parents, school children, city service employees and the elderly, or should we continue to suffer quietly in a corner as we wave to one another, masquerading as a Paradise? The World Health Organization has classified an aspect of human life called “Disability Affected Life Years” or “DALYS”, referring to the quality of life in the laters years of your existence on Earth. The WHO has researched quite thoroughly the potential factors which place one in a disabled state of mental and physical health: stress, depression, anxiety, malnutrition, substance abuse, domestic stress, etc. Particularly interesting is the projection from a WHO study in 1993 which projects that by 2020, depression would become the leading cause of disability-affected-life-years, surpassing heart disease. I have no way of confirming wether or not that projection was reached.
Would it cost the city so much to upgrade our water supply to a “Superior” class of filtration, as do our neighbors to the North? No it wouldn’t, considering that the onset of Dental Fluorosis is anticipated by high fluoride levels in the access points of our water supply. Dental Fluorosis disproportionately affects those from birth up to age 8, rendering the permanent set of teeth with withering enamel and weakened gums. Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral, but the US Public Health Service has made a very public recommendation of safe “drinking standards”, which is specifically 1.5 ppm (parts per million). A study conducted in 1961 by the Texas Board of Water Engineers showed that 6 out 7 water samples in Presidio County far exceeded that recommendation. So given that the various wells which supply the city of Marfa and Sal Si Puedes are at different depths, then it would be very fair and anti-racist if the main distribution point to the city’s water lines be upgraded and replaced where necessary, providing all citizens with water classified as “safe” for drinking (the aforementioned study of our county water table, linked below, shows that deeper wells consistently contain higher fluoride). The mineral known as “lead” is a less-spoken about concern, but it shouldn’t be, considering that when lead is boiled for drink or food preparation, it solidifies, becoming all the more lethal to the human body. The EPA has designated all levels of lead to be unsafe for human consumption, especially in children.
Only because I can afford a large cylindrical, chrome-finished tower of “pure” water, is this my only right to it, that I can afford it and so may drink from it? On a technicality, that feels like I’m purchasing a more “filtered” existence than that of my brother or sister. My right to use private capital on a clearer cup of water. So my neighbors, I have just pathetically explained one possible aspect of a certain portion of my privileged existence which does indeed set me apart from my brother or sister, who may be an American of African descent or an American of Latin-American descent (those which live in abundance here). A HEADLINE COMES TO MIND:
“MARFA CARES ABOUT IT’S CHILDREN’S TEETH, DECIDES FLUOROSIS IS RACIST”
“MARFA DECIDES EVENTS WITH FREE LIQUOR ARE A WASTE OF TIME, UPGRADES WATER SUPPLY INSTEAD”
“SMILES ON THE RISE”
www.twdb.texas.gov/publications/reports/bulletins/doc/B6110.pdf
(3M makes a very affordable under-counter kitchen filter for 99% chlorine and lead removal, 20 minutes to install with a screwdriver)
