On Obamacare, Juneteenth, and Transgender debates in the public square
The Friday Flashpoints!
Juneteenth becomes a Federal Holiday
Yesterday, President Joe Biden held a signing ceremony making Juneteenth, the commemoration of June 19, 1865 when enslaved Blacks in Texas learned of their emancipation, into a Federal Holiday. The new holiday stoked both wide support—and some concern among many fellow descendants of the enslaved across social media.
I have written at length about my thoughts on this subject on social media this week and still stand by those thoughts, but for those who do not follow me on Facebook or Instagram, do know that while I believe that symbolism has a place in society, I admit that I have some struggles with this new holiday not just because of the potential commercialism (Wal-Mart is selling “Juneteenth” t-shirts) and tokenism of what has been a solemn reflection for years among Black people, but because it strikes me as yet another potentially futile example of my people seeking mass white approval of our ancestors' humanity in the face of their ancestors’ inhumanity during slavery and Jim Crow. I struggle because two dozen states (and counting) have implemented, or are considering measures, to limit what public school teachers can teach about racism in America generally—and the root of that racism (slavery), and the fruits of the racist tree, which has been supreme white dominance in economics and every other field of endeavor and categorization. Which leads to my wondering whether, perhaps, this new holiday will be a catalyst to meaningful legislation that addresses the historic disparities between the races resulting from slavery and Jim Crow—and formal reparations to the tune of multiple trillions of dollars owed to Black people?
As I always say, "stay tuned..."
Obamacare upheld—again!
Republicans have been relentless since 2010 in seeking to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act more commonly known as "Obamacare." The Federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, has been equally relentless in upholding the law that is more popular and ensuring more Americans than ever!
By a 7-2 vote this week that included four conservatives joining the three liberal justices in this decisive decision, it seems that the death knell for Republican intransigence on Obamacare has been sounded. Now, I fully expect some Republicans to still use this subject on the stump because few things stir up their base more than invoking the name "Obama"—even among the Republican rank-and-file that are enrolled in the program nicknamed for the 44th POTUS. Still, here's hoping that less attention will be paid to the holdouts who refuse to concede that all things considered, that this program has allowed greater access to insurance coverage, including a fact near and dear to me—the elimination of pre-existing illness exclusions that kept private insurers denying certain coverages for decades to Americans willing and able to pay!
Preserving Black History
A local (Tallahassee) story that is definitely worth watching nationally is the work that my friend Geraldine Seay, a Howard University alumna, community activist, and longtime owner of B- Sharp's Cafe and Jazz Club, is doing to raise awareness about the Lake Hall School in North Tallahassee. The school, built in 1878, is one that educated Blacks in the post-slavery on into the Jim Crow era—one that stands as a testament to the resilience of a people that faced certain death for even learning to read during slavery.
There are other schools and structures like Lake Hall across the South, and it is crucial that these relics are marked and upheld to remind future generations what our ancestors knew all too well, which is that education is the key to a better future! This will take money, lots of money, so I ask all of my followers who are so willing to go to Sister Seay's GoFundMe link and donate to this worthy cause today!
I also am looking forward to interviewing Sister Seay on Season 2 of "Front & Center w/Chuck Hobbs!”
EU opening to American tourists?
When the Wu-Tang rap crew famously quipped in the 90's "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" (CREAM), truer words were never spoken, as evidenced recently through the European Union's decision to allow member nations to relax travel restrictions from America to boost tourism.
As I move closer to my golden year of 50, I have quite a bit of living and traveling to do across the globe, including Europe. As a World War II buff, I do look forward to visiting Dunkirk, Normandy, and the Maginot Line in France, the Eagle's Nest (Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat) and the Reichstag in Germany, and to paying my respects to the 10 millions Jews and Roma killed at Auschwitz in Poland. But I shan't be going with the 'Rona lingering near, especially the new Delta strain that has Great Britain on the verge of reimplementing quarantine measures to stop the spread of this deadly disease.
Still, if I know nothing else, there are some hard-headed Americans who will travel and tour—sans masks—just because they can, a fact that frustrates me all the more because those ones refuse to concede that if folks can just sit tight and stay put, that we all could return to normalcy at a quicker pace.
Feminist backlash against Trans-women
From the literature world, there has been quite a bit of chatter on social media about Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's essay that argued a distinction between women's issues and Trans-women's issues. The chatter emanates from the social media rebuke of her essay by her former mentee and fellow writer, Akwaeke Emezi, who argues that her mentor's piece was “designed to incite hordes of transphobic Nigerians to target me.”
While the following NPR article delves deeply into the background between these women and their beef, suffice it to say that this presents a classic example of two opponents making valid points. Adichie's overarching criticism that social media has become so toxic that people can no longer discuss matters without anger or vitriolic remarks is true, and one that I have to work on daily to listen and internalize without condemnation—even when I disagree. Emezi's position that Trans-women face serious discrimination, violent attacks, and marginalizing in societies from Nigeria, where it is illegal to be LGBTQ and where Twitter was banned, to the United States, where legislation to limit the personal liberties of the LGBTQ community is fecund across the land based on religious convictions as opposed to scientific or non-religious reasoning, is also very true. Common ground will be a hard fought exercise, no doubt, as most who oppose Transgender and myriad other LGBTQ concerns rarely concede an inch of their personal convictions. But closer to home, as the First Amendment does not establish a state religion, I submit that the beginning to understanding, indeed, comes from lowering the volume of our voices—and listening with compassion in hopes of understanding!
The Hobbservation Point wishes a Happy Juneteenth to all descendants of the enslaved in America, and we also wish a Happy Father's Day weekend to all fathers and father figures across the land!
Always on point Hobbs