A pandemic is a great time to binge watch a TV series you somehow missed.
I watched all seven seasons of Mad Men, including the episode about the riots at the 1968 Democratic convention. I then turned on the live coverage of nationwide protests. It was déjà vu.
Instead of an unpopular war, the protests were about injustice toward black American citizens in another election year, not to mention a pandemic that disproportionately targets the African American population.
2020 is another turning point in our nation’s history. Will we change or go back to the status quo? Will we learn from history’s lessons or be condemned to repeat them?
Our unpreparedness for the pandemic has cost over 100,000 lives and a country that is both politically and racially divided. It is imperative that we change direction. We can no longer tolerate the partisanship in Washington or the inequality of justice in America.
We must begin to heal, and I believe this cannot happen without a change in our political leadership. More importantly, each and every one of us must change.
We have to confront our bigotry and prejudice and realize once and for all that we are one nation. We must address the social and economic disparity that has afflicted our land for so long. We cannot be great again until we replace our fear-based contempt for one another and embrace our common humanity.
FRANK WARMAN
Hopkinton