• NBS’a Jonathan Isaac is not allowed to eat with his team in restaurants because he is unvaccinated.
Figures consistently show that Blacks have the lowest vaccination rates, often about 45%. Hispanic rates are slightly higher, Whites still higher, and Asians the highest.
If we push programs to increase Black and Hispanic vaccination rates, that is one thing. But if we discriminate against Blacks on the pretext that they are unvaccinated, that is something else entirely. It recalls vividly the days of Jim Crow segregation.
When Frank Sinatra traveled with the “Rat Pack” including Sammy Davis Jr., Frank had to bully hotels and restaurants into accepting his Black friend. And when he could not, they had to go elsewhere.
When Oscar-nominated actress Dorothy Dandridge performed in Las Vegas, the story is either a) they drained the pool after she used it, or b) they drained the pool so she couldn’t use it. Either way, it shows how disgusting segregation was.
After all the struggles of Dr. King and so many others to integrate lunch counters, you might expect people to be reluctant to refuse service to a Black team member. You would be disappointed. There is an old saying: “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
At some point, we have a right to ask whether these regulations hit Blacks hardest accidentally or intentionally.