Author: Katherine Hagen

The conversation has begun. It’s not over, and one could also argue that it isn’t really a beginning, either. But one can’t really ignore how the tragic death of George Floyd has altered everything. My own reflections on racism in America and in France are, at least, a new beginning for me.  They express a personal dilemma of dissatisfaction with  homogeneity – the French call it “universalism” – and yet a greater awareness these days of not knowing what should take its place.  It has now become a new and expanding conversation – with friends and family, whose sharing of their own personal experiences and recommendations are included here.

The comments are clustered in three categories – Hagen family members who have shared specific recollections of Minnesota life and culture;  Doggett family members who have drawn on their own experiences, many of them global, to share insights and ideas; and close friends from multiple backgrounds who have also shared their perspectives and hopes for the future.  At the end are a few personal follow-up remarks but only to keep this conversation going. Here are the selections in the order that they appear:

Hagens Building on Minnesota Experiences

• Deborah Smith
• Elizabeth Hagen Smith
• Janet Hagen
• Camille Rogers

Doggetts Building on Global Experiences

• Kristina Doggett Hagen
• Niko Doggett
• Barbara Maria Doggett
• Tony Doggett
• Elizabeth Davis
• Gina Doggett
• Jeanie Smith
• Carol Doggett Smith

Friends: Experiences and Perspectives

• Ken Jones, WHF 79-80
• Lou Ruch, NC Fambly
• Barbara Ruby, NC Fambly
• Paul Sweeney, WHF 79-80
• Judy Mercado, WHF 79-80
• Daniel Warner, Geneva Network
• Jay Reich, WHF 79-80

Continue reading “Shared Experiences and Reflections from Family and Friends on Racism”

The televised recycling of the shocking murder of George Floyd confronts us with the challenge of personal responsibility. As American expats living in France, we are grieving this horrifying example of racism in the culture of our home country. The grief draws us to so many other tragedies like it – in isolation but not in inaction. We are working it out in our own minds what to do. In my case, the grief is heightened by my personal knowledge about the place where George Floyd was murdered: Minneapolis. Continue reading “Personal Reflections on Racism in America”

Moving from Phase 1 into Phase 2 and now into Phase 3 of the easing of French lockdown restrictions, we are wondering how our lives have changed. Not much, actually. And that is even though we are encouraged by the downward trends for the virus in France and the kudos for a successful process of easing out of lockdown here. We are awaiting THE vaccine, which means that not much has changed in our daily lifestyles. Of course, external events have changed dramatically. Separate musings have been posted  with personal reflections, one on racism in America and another on racism in France (and Europe). Here is the more humdrum one, as a parallel record to keep track of the impact of the pandemic on the daily lifestyle. Continue reading “Pandemic Musings: 3. Further Musings on Post-Lockdown Living: The Daily Routine in Phase 3 of the First Wave”

The “containment” for the stay-at-home lockdown in France officially began on 17 March 2020, but we had already embraced it from 10 March. I have called it the New March Madness because it finally sank in as we entered the month of March. This used to be the time of “March Madness” , the collegiate basketball tournaments that would carry players and fans to a fevered height  every March. An early warning signal that the pandemic was invisibly sweeping across the world was the abrupt decision in late February to cancel these collegiate tournaments. But it took more time than we should have required to absorb the all-encompassing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. To me, it was a gradual but shocking awakening to a forecast that had often been mentioned but easily ignored for lack of a date certain. So it became my “new” March Madness.

Two months have now gone by in this isolating state, and we are about to ease into a new phase of “decontainment” starting Monday, 11 May. The worries loom large about what this means, even if it is clear that the “decontainment” will occur in stages over the next several weeks and possibly even months. There could yet be a second wave or even a third wave of contagion to force us back into “containment”, but right now that is only a reminder from the authorities. Continue reading “Pandemic Musings: 2. Living with COVID-19, the New March Madness: Reflections on Coming to the End of Lock-down Living, First Wave”

In the midst of the restlessness of people defying the coronavirus lock-down here in France, there was a report of a group of teenagers caught by the police for flaunting the lock-down order. They had reportedly gathered in an alley in the town of St. Etienne for a barbecue party. The fleeing youth apparently tried to distract the gendarmes, who had, of course, caught wind of their burgers on the grill, by throwing a pot of mustard at them. I thought to myself, aha, just like the bizarre President Donald Trump – throwing mustard at the World Health Organization (WHO) to distract the world from his own flaunting of the pandemic! What an absolute farce this man has become! (Or always was, for that matter, but this being the only and most egregious CURRENT example of his malevolent psyche.) And here he is doing even more damage! Continue reading “Throwing the Mustard Pot at the WHO”