See, Black Lives DO Matter...

 ...more than others, that is. 

Now that the new vaccine is getting ready to ship, 25 out of 50 United states plan to prioritize who gets it first -- and 'white' people are lowest on the list. 

(graphic is referenced in the link)

Really. If you consider yourself Caucasian, plan to be at the end of this train. 

This comes on the heels of a study of a two-month period in California -- that says people without college degrees account for two-thirds of the Covid-19 related deaths then. Lower income and people of color are mentioned too, of course. 

Well, that leaves the Brick and yours truly back in the caboose somewhere -- because we have college degrees and aren't destitute...thanks in great part to being real Hollanders about our financial planning. Oh yes, we're also considered 'white.' (Personally, I think of us as sort of a pinkish-tan.) Frankly, it's not that big a deal for us, for a number of reasons. But -- 

Some of my Facebook friends have pointed out that doing this rebalances out previous inequities -- that clinics in the past have had a disproportionate lesser share of the poor and 'people of color.' And they have a point, although they seem to be arguing that two wrongs WILL make a right, eventually. However, I have a few questions:

*If this sort of planning gave a back seat to Black and Hispanic citizens, instead of White ones, wouldn't it be immediately dismissed as bigoted and racist?

    (I can just imagine the screaming, yelling and carryings-on.)

and...

*What are you going to do if your dad is Black -- and your mom is White? (Or vice versa) Does that mean you don't qualify...or you do? How much of a 'minority' percentage do you have to be, in order to qualify?

*Where do you fall in this mix if you consider yourself Asian -- does that count as White -- or something else? Native Americans, where do you fit? Or Hawaiian, Polynesian, Maori...where do they land in this? Are you a 'minority,' too?  

    Our son is quarter-Inuit Eskimo, mixed with a healthy dollop of Irish and Italian. But his wife  Daughter #2  shares a Heinz 57 mix of cultures from the Brick and myself, including lots of Scotch, English, Dutch, Irish, Welsh, Danish -- and a smidgen each of Basque and Russian Jewish blood. (A little more than Elizabeth Warren's Indian genes -- but not much.) Does that exclude her -- and include him? (Getting the vaccine is very important to our kids. VERY important.)

and finally...

*How much do you want to bet that well-off and/or celebrity individuals are magically going to qualify for an early handout of the vaccine? (It sure seems that way for a number of politicians 'patriotically doing their duty.') Certainly these people can finagle a way to prove they're 'essential,' or at least have a spoonful or more of 'minority' DNA. Or perhaps they can hop over to a state that it won't matter as much.

Inquiring minds want to know.