(Snippets from the frontline)
COVID-19/BLM: Safely at home
Most people don’t know I was born in Harlem. We left New York in 1954 because my parents told us the weather in California would be better for my brother’s asthma. In reality, we were political exiles escaping the civil right battles of the big city.
Racism. I never knew of it, as we were protected by our parents. But evidence was always there, like the Green Book they used to get cross country avoiding States that might arrest them because they were a mixed couple.
When I was 11, my mother who is Japanese-Canadian, called a real estate agent to view an open house. Ringing the doorbell, my mom introduced herself as Mrs. Dorio, and promptly got the door slammed on us, with the trailing voice echoing “It’s sold!”
Growing up in an African-American community was my comfort zone. In my entire early years through high school, I did not face racism. Too often I heard the “N” word derogatively thrown at my friends, yet we had been taught to ignore offensive words, turn the other cheek, and follow succinct commands of the police.
Once I left my community, I found out how much worse racism was.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D #84
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