2020 - The Year of Challenge

Let me tell you, the year 2020 was a rough one. There were many significant events that had happened. Many of these events impacted society deeply. The three major events that impacted me and society include, COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the presidential election. Each of these significant events had an impact on me and on society in a serious way. 

To start off, COVID-19 was one of the most impactful events that had happened. The coronavirus had affected so much of the world's population regarding their lives and their jobs. In the article “COVID has killed more than one million people. How many more will die?” the author states that “Nine months into the coronavirus pandemic, the official global death toll has now exceeded one million people. The one-million milestone was hit on 28 September, according to the COVID case tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland” (Mega). This is significant because people are losing their lives over a virus. This virus is wiping out millions of people. This has impacted me because not even within a month of each other I lost two healthy grandparents due to this virus. Also the fact that I had it, and I gave it to my parents. This virus is not something to joke about. Not only are people losing their lives, but also their jobs and source and of income. According to the CommonWealth Fund, they stated that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most states issued lockdown orders that closed many workplaces and dramatically slowed U.S. economic activity in the spring of 2020. The result was a massive increase in unemployment, which peaked in April at 14.7 percent. During the 15 weeks from mid-March to the end of June, Americans filed nearly 49 million new claims for unemployment benefits.” This impacted many Americans because they had lost their source of income to provide for themselves and their families. This impacted me as well because I am a college student who needs money in order to stay in school. Without me working I had to rely on my parents to support me but that is expensive. As you can see, this virus has affected society significantly. People are dying and losing loved ones, and people aren't able to support their needs. A way to atleast stay safe from the virus is to avoid touching your nose, mouth and eyes. Always wear a mask and wash your hands after excessive touching. Also to avoid contact with sick individuals. Lastly, to clean surfaces with disinfectant frequently (Redcross). Being able to stay healthy and follow protocols can help reduce the chances of getting the virus. This being the biggest event that has happened has definitely made history. 

Secondly, another very impactful event included the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement had a huge impact on society for the african american culture. This movement started because a black man was killed over a fake 10 dollar bill, that he didn’t even know was fake. This man's name was George Floyd. The New York Times wrote “The bystander video shows a white Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee into a black man’s neck during an arrest, as the man repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe,” and, “Please, I can’t breathe.” This had started Chaos between cultures. The african american culture took a stand against police brutality. Many were outraged about what had happened and believed that they were being treated unfairly still. In a letter it wrote “Nonetheless, I want my friends and colleagues to hear directly from me that Black lives matter, that we must stop killing Black people, and that Capita’s work will become even more focused in the weeks and months ahead on creating a future in which all Black children can flourish safely and peacefully in ways that are in harmony with their fundamental dignity as human persons” (Joe Waters). All we want is peace within our society to be able to move freely without being judged or suspected of things. This has impacted me because my family has had foster children run through their house for almost 30 years. Many of these kids were african american or colored. There had been many incidents with me as a child and some of the foster kids. For example a couple of them were taking me for ice cream and had gotten pulled over. They questioned why a white child was with them. Now as an adult that makes me really mad because everyone has a story, but not everyone is considered to be doing bad. The saying “Never judge a book by its cover” should be taken into consideration. Not everyone's the same, not everyone has the same intentions. It has been over 150 years since slavery was ended in the U.S. These movements have continued the fight against racism. (Wenard Institute). The sad thing is though, no matter how hard we fight or how much we do, there will still always be some type of racism. All we can do for now though is help educate those who don’t understand. This movement is helping change the world and spreading the love for equality. 

Lastly, moving onto our last significant event is the presidential election. The presidential election had started many conflicts between the political parties. This election had many controversies to it regarding voter fraud. Many of the states were accused of voter fraud including the dead even voting. According to the Newsmax article “there are many examples of vote fraud that took place during the 2020 election, and serious evidence of voting irregularities relating to the mail-in ballots” (Dorstewitz). Many people believe that they should look into how the mailing ballots are distributed and how people have access to the ballots. In the article “ Hawley defends election objection, claims Dems trying to 'grab power' with 'lie about our motivations'” the author wrote “"I think we need election reforms. I think we need to ban ballot harvesting. I think we need to take a hard look at how the mail in balloting was administered in many of these states, including Pennsylvania, which did not follow their own law," Hawley told host Mark Levin” (Charles Creitz). This election has impacted me because as a person who doesn't know much about politics can be easily confused on who really won the election. There are so many sources and people who state that Trump really won or Biden really won, but there are so many things that say the votes were inconsistent. This makes me really confused on what is going on and if I vote in the future will my vote even be counted for? Here is an example of supposedly voter fraud. Trump and his supporters had accused people that they had hidden evidence of voter fraud by saying they destroyed the machines or took parts out of it (Davey Alba, Sheera Frenkel).  This has impacted society because people are stating things and people are not sure if it is true or not. It is all based on what he said she said. There is no actual proven evidence about any of this yet. 

In conclusion, these three major events, COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the presidential election have all impacted society and myself. These three things all took in apart in how 2021 started and how it is going to continue. The pandemic is still a huge affect in 2021, it could still change this year. The BLM movement is still continuing strong and helping educate those around them and stick up for what they believe. The presidential election is still under investigation on whether the votes are true or false. These three things have shaped the path for the year 2021 and honestly, I am scared. These events may take a turn for the worse and impact our world more.