More and more, cruise lines are requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated. It started with Saga in January, then American Queen Steamboat, Crystal, Virgin, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian and Celebrity. The date for this requirement varies. I'm particularly interested in a Norwegian Hawaiian Islands one-week cruise, for they are supposed to start on July 3, and there is no way many of those currently holding reservations will be able to board.
This means people like me who can see these ships in Honolulu Harbor will be able to on Friday of the Saturday departure secure free everything for a ridiculously discounted price. Their $4319 balcony rate is already down to $3023, including free beverage package, excursions, WiFi, free flight for one person and Specialty Dining. This price includes one free roundtrip flight, which I don't need. I'll wait until this cost drops down to $1500/person or less. Apparently, there is no way to be put on a wait list for when the cruise line gets desperate, so I'll call them, or have my agent, check on July 2, and again on July 9. I wonder how low they will get? Stay tuned. Of course, I really don't need a cruise this summer, for in November of this year, or January of 2022, I am scheduled on a very long one. And maybe I'll take both.
There is a growing sense that the "statistically insignificant" Asian sector of the country has seriously joined the list of ethnicities being discriminated against. That term came from this powerful statement by Daniel Dae Kim. What has happened?
One could make an argument that former President Donald Trump is partly responsible by blaming China for COVID-19. He was actually right, but the way he said this spurred those with White Supremacist tendencies to lash out against anyone who looked Chinese.
Those Atlanta massage parlor killings particularly incited many to speak out. The murderer himself, Robert Aaron Long, said the reason was guilt from sexual addiction, not racial. It seems that society has a way of picking out the wrong example of who and what to blame.
A good example is George Floyd. In most ways he sparked the current turnaround in attitude and legislation sweeping the nation. So even though he was a bad egg, the end result was no doubt good for the nation. The cause would have been better justified if Breonna Taylor was the symbol. She was an innocent, black ER technician, and her death resulted in the city of Louisville agreeing to pay Taylor's family $12 million and reform police practices. George Floyd is not as bad as that poster indicates, but was a convicted criminal who had abandoned his family in Houston. Read this Snopes article that sort of says most of what is depicted to the right is kind of true. I pretty much said the same thing two years ago.
I'm Asian, and remember growing up in Honolulu as a second-class citizen. Japanese were discriminated against all through Hawaii's history, with a change coming after veteran heroes from World War II returned to dominate local politics, education and success. Myself, going to school in the West Coast and Louisiana, then working in Washington, D.C. and traveling across the country on numerous occasions, I actually only experienced one case of racial profiling. In Baton Rouge, a young child, rather innocently, thought I was a Viet Cong soldier.
While in many ways, I might have merely been lucky, I think much of the hoopla about Asian discrimination spreading across the country today is largely exaggerated. Of course there are incidents, but that occurs to any color, creed, sexuality or context. We are far away yet from being a perfect society.
As long as a few percent of Americans hold certain prejudices, there will be racial problems. History shows that it has been a lot worse.
In the late 1800's Chinese laborers were scapegoated and banned. They were not allowed to even enter stores and restaurants in Los Angeles. My grandfather, who is Japanese, also could not, because most Asians are all Asians to Americans. I can't tell the difference.
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, American Japanese were placed in jeopardy.- As China is blamed for this pandemic, of course there will be some expressed hatred by a very few.
- Muslims were the target after 9/11.
- There has been black/white animosity since slavery. This will continue, especially longer if any kind of economic and penal equality is not attained.
Good that the Atlanta murders brought the Asian matter up for national discussion. However, no amount of concern or legislation will make much difference as world events trigger future incidents. We live in an imperfect world with good and bad people. At least in Hawaii there no longer is any inequality between Japanese and Caucasian, so progress can occur under special circumstances. In some ways, Hawaii can be used as an example of how harmony can be reached. Yet, even we have isolated problems.
I'll close with two photos to start your week. A good example of racial harmony:
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