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COVID-19, shootings: Is mass death now tolerated in America?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - After mass shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives last weekend, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now an irreversible reality in the United States - like the persistent reality of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year.

Americans have always tolerated high rates of death among certain segments of society. But the sheer numbers of deaths from preventable causes, and the apparent acceptance that no policy change is on the horizon, raises the question: Has mass death become accepted in America?

'œI think the evidence is unmistakable and quite clear. We will tolerate an enormous amount of carnage, suffering and death in the U.S., because we have over the past two years. We have over our history,'ť says Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist and professor at Yale who was a leading member of the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP.

'œIf I thought the AIDS epidemic was bad, the American response to COVID-19 has sort of ... it's a form of the American grotesque, right?'ť Gonsalves says. 'œReally - a million people are dead? And you're going to talk to me about your need to get back to normal, when for the most part most of us have been living pretty reasonable lives for the past six months?'ť

Certain communities have always borne the brunt of higher death rates. There are profound racial and class inequalities in the United States, and our tolerance of death is partly based on who is at risk, says Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, a sociology professor who studies mortality at the University of Minnesota.

'œSome people's deaths matter a lot more than others,'ť she laments. 'œI think that's what we're seeing in this really brutal way with this coincidence of timing.'ť

In Buffalo, the alleged shooter was a racist bent on killing Black people, according to authorities. The family of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, one of the 10 people killed, channeled the grief and frustration of millions as they demanded action.

'œYou expect us to keep doing this over and over and over again - over again, forgive and forget,'ť her son, former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, Jr., said. 'œWhile people we elect and trust in offices around this country do their best not to protect us, not to consider us equal.'ť

That sense - that politicians have done little even as the violence repeats itself '“ is shared by many Americans. It's a feeling encapsulated by the 'œthoughts and prayers'ť offered to victims of gun violence by politicians unwilling to change policies, according to Martha Lincoln, an anthropology professor at San Francisco State University.

'œI don't think that most Americans feel good about it. I think most Americans would like to see real action from their leaders in the culture about these pervasive issues,'ť says Lincoln, who sees a similar 'œpolitical vacuum'ť around COVID-19.

With COVID-19, American society has even come to accept the deaths of children from a preventable cause. Pediatrician Dr. Mark W. Kline wrote in a guest column for The Advocate newspaper that more than 1,500 children have died from COVID-19, and recalled a time in pediatrics when 'œchildren were not supposed to die.'ť

'œThere was no acceptable pediatric body count,'ť he wrote. 'œAt least, not before the first pandemic of the social media age, COVID-19, changed everything.'ť

Gun violence is such a part of life in America now that we organize our lives around its inevitability, says Sonali Rajan, a Columbia University professor who researches school violence. Children do lockdown drills at school. And in about half the states, Rajan says, teachers can carry firearms. She notes that an estimated 100,000 people are shot annually and some 40,000 will die.

She sees similar dynamics in the current response to COVID-19. Americans, she says, 'œdeserve to be able to commute to work without getting sick, or work somewhere without getting sick, or send their kids to school without them getting sick.'ť

It's important, she says, to ask what policies are being put forth by elected officials who have the power to 'œattend to the health and the well-being of their constituents.'ť

'œIt's remarkable how that responsibility has been sort of abdicated, is how I would describe it,'ť Rajan says.

The level of concern about deaths often depends on context, says Rajiv Sethi, an economics professor at Barnard College. He points to a rare but dramatic event such as an airplane crash, which does seem to matter to people.

Sethi notes there are more suicides from guns in America than there are homicides, an estimated 24,000 gun suicides compared with 19,000 homicides. But even though there are policy proposals that could help within the bounds of the Second Amendment, he says, the debate on guns is politically entrenched, causing 'œparalysis.'ť

'œIt divides us when people think that there's nothing they can do,'ť says Dr. Megan Ranney of Brown University's School of Public Health.

Ranney points to false narratives spread by bad actors, such as denying that the deaths were preventable, or suggesting those who die deserved it. There is an emphasis in the United States on individual responsibility for one's health, Ranney says.

'œIt's not that we put less value on an individual life, but rather we're coming up against the limits of that approach,'ť she says.

In truth, she says, any individual's death or disability affects the community.

Similar debates happened in the last century about child labor laws, worker protections and reproductive rights, while in the 1980s during the AIDS crisis, there a lack of political will to address it in an environment where anti-gay discrimination was rampant. Wrigley-Field notes activists were able to mobilize a movement that forced people to change the way they thought and forced politicians to change the way they operated.

'œI don't think that those things are off the table now. It's just that it's not really clear if they're going to emerge,'ť Wrigley-Field says. 'œI don't think giving up is a permanent state of affairs. But I do think that's where we're at, right at this moment.'ť

FILE - Garnell Whitfield Jr., left, the son of Ruth Whitfield, a victim of shooting at a supermarket, speaks with members of the media during a news conference in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, May 16, 2022. After a weekend of gun violence in America, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) The Associated Press
FILE - Adam Almonte holds a photo of him with his older brother, Fernando Morales, on a bench where they used to sit and eat tuna sandwiches after playing catch in Fort Tryon Park in New York, Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Morales died April 7, 2020 from COVID-19 at age 43. After a weekend of gun violence in America, Saturday, May 14, 2022, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) The Associated Press
FILE - This May 13, 2020 photo made with a fisheye lens shows a list of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in Salt Lake County early in the coronavirus pandemic at the Salt Lake County Health Department, in Salt Lake City. After a weekend of gun violence in America, Saturday, May 14, 2022, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) The Associated Press
FILE - Frank Kulick, adjusts a display of wooden crosses, and a Jewish Star of David, representing the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, on his front lawn, Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Newtown, Conn. After a weekend of gun violence in America, Saturday, May 14, 2022, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File) The Associated Press
FILE - Parents leave a staging area after being reunited with their children following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. where authorities say a gunman opened fire, leaving 27 people dead, including 20 children, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. After a weekend of gun violence in America, Saturday, May 14, 2022, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File) The Associated Press
FILE - Joanna Garcia, 47, leaves flowers outside Geneva Presbyterian Church to honor victims in Sunday's shooting at the church in Laguna Woods, Calif., Monday, May 16, 2022. After a weekend of gun violence in America, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) The Associated Press
FILE - Orange County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Steinle displays a photo of Dr. John Cheng, a 52-year-old victim who was killed in Sunday's shooting at Geneva Presbyterian Church, before a news conference in Santa Ana, Calif., Monday, May 16, 2022. After a weekend of gun violence in America, when shootings killed and wounded people grocery shopping, going to church and simply living their lives, the nation marked a milestone of 1 million deaths from COVID-19. The number, once unthinkable, is now a pedestrian reality in the United States, just as is the reality of the continuing epidemic of gun violence that kills tens of thousands of people a year. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) The Associated Press
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