A DUMFRIES woman who lives in America has told of how the coronavirus pandemic and protests against racism have impacted the nation.
Former Calside Primary pupil Rachel Walker moved to Norfolk, Virginia in 2013 to attend Old Dominion University as a member of the women’s golf team. This presented the 26-year-old the opportunity to play the sport she loves whilst obtaining a degree and travelling across America.
She still lives there now and works as an assistant women’s golf coach.
And she has described the events of the past nine days following the death of African-American George Floyd.
Protests began to take place across Norfolk and Virginia Beach as a sign of solidarity against police brutality towards African-Americans, but Rachel says that unfortunately some of them resulted in riots and looting taking place. As a result, a curfew – from 8 pm to 6 am – was put in place from June 1-4.
“It will be interesting to see how it impacts the community,” she said. “This is a pivotal time in this country’s history and the actions that are taken now will either lead to more turmoil or become a beacon of hope.
“They didn’t do a good job announcing our curfew, I believe they announced it at 6 pm that it would start in two hours. They didn’t publicise it in many places and I only found out on Twitter.”
Rachel believes change has to occur and if those in positions of power are unwilling they should be “removed from their position”.
She added: “Those in positions of power need to be held accountable and held to a higher standard across the country. The current system in place has glaringly obvious flaws that consistently result in scenarios in which racism prevails instead of justice being served.
“The underlying causes that continually provoke these situations need to be addressed before change can take place. There are people from all over who are ready for change. It seems as though people are lost and seeking ways to express how they feel.
“The people need to come together and effectively convey the message that enough is enough. Protesting for the right to exist peacefully is not something that any human should have to do, but here we are.”
The protests came only two weeks after Virginia took its first phased step out of corona lockdown.
The governor of Virginia issued a state of emergency on March 12 before announcing a stay at home order later that month that would remain in place until June. This meant staying at home unless going to grocery stores, to get medical care or going to work and get exercise. But on May 15, most areas in Virginia started phase one of easing lockdown measures.
Rachel explained: “This allowed non-essential businesses to open at 50 per cent capacity. Restaurants can include outdoor seating, hairdressers and nail salons can open by appointment only. We have been mandated to wear a mask out in public until further notice but the good news is that phase two will begin today (Friday) meaning more non-essential businesses can open.
“Gyms and recreation facilities can open for indoor use at 30 per cent capacity and gatherings of up to 50 people are allowed with social distancing still encouraged.”
One shining personal highlight of lockdown for Rachel was when her partner of three-and-a-half years, Kevin, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him – the couple are pictured above.
She added: “We got engaged at one of our favourite trails in Virginia Beach. I’m excited for the future and settling down over here in America. It was a really bright spot amongst all of the chaos that has been occurring recently and gives us, family and friends something to be excited for and look forward to.”
