Oral History Interview with Virginia Bush

Partial Transcript: Virginia Bush and my date of birth is...

Segment Synopsis: This is an oral history of life in Kentucky during the pandemic.

Keywords: Date of birth; Name; Release form

Subjects: Oral history

Partial Transcript: So, without further ado, let me ask the first question and that is for you to tell me...

Segment Synopsis: Pre-Covid, Bush worked as a nurse. She has four kids and also does work in environmental activism and social justice. After Covid, due to her age group being at risk for Covid-19, her co-workers didn't want her to come into work. Later on, however, she had to increase the amount that she worked due to worker shortages. She also acted as a caregiver for her parents, which was difficult.

Keywords: Activism; Age groups; Caregiver; Family; Healthcare; Nurse; Parents

Subjects: Caregivers; Healthcare; Medical care--Kentucky; Nurse and patient--Anecdotes

Partial Transcript: Well, I think back to the nursing home, decline and death in isolation; that's just the most horrible part of it.

Segment Synopsis: The elders in nursing homes were not allowed to see their family members. It was difficult to get Covid-19 tests in Louisville, which Bush often had to get because she is a healthcare worker.

Keywords: Care; Death; Family; Healthcare; Isolation; Louisville; Rural

Subjects: Death; Family; Healthcare; Nursing home care; Solitude

Partial Transcript: For yourself, firstly at home, and that sort of thing, is everything good there...

Segment Synopsis: Bush's father was in the hospital and she was the only person allowed to visit him due to Covid-19. She has had many emotional personal challenges, including her sister fighting breast cancer. These challenges were much more difficult to deal with due to Covid-19. Her grandchildren were doing NTI for school.

Keywords: Cancer; Caregiver; Children; Designated caregiver; Family; Father; Hospital; Non-Traditional Instruction; NTI; Online school; Parent; School; Sister; Virtual school

Subjects: Caregivers; Family; Healthcare; Medical care--Kentucky; Personal lives, social worlds; School adjustment; Student adjustment

Partial Transcript: This virus, this pandemic, has it been politicized?

Segment Synopsis: The debate on mask mandates have caused many divisions, especially as people post about it on social media. Mask mandates have been used against Biden's campaign. Anti-maskers argue that mask mandates go against their individual rights. But, not wearing a mask negatively affects so many people. Negative and harmful rhetoric is being spread on social media.

Keywords: Anti-maskers; Biden; Campaign; Division; Election; Facebook; Individual rights; Individualism; Joe Biden; Mask mandates; Posts; Presidential election; Reposts; Rhetoric; Spread

Subjects: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Facebook (Electronic resource); Individual rights and civic responsibility; Masks; Online social networks; Political divisions; Presidential elections--2020; Social media; User-generated content

Partial Transcript: Tell me a little bit, well talk a little about the different government levels...

Segment Synopsis: Testing has been an issue with results taking a long time to come back. There were protesters with assault weapons on state government property protesting against the governor. Others protesting much more peacefully were not allowed to do so by law enforcement, which reveals that many law enforcement, especially sheriffs, are tied to white supremacist groups. Recently, the governor has been having daily meetings, which have been very helpful at spreading information.

Keywords: Andy Beshear; Assault Weapons; Daily meetings; Delays; Governor; Information; Peaceful protests; Police; Protests; Sheriffs; Testing; Testing Results; White supremacy

Subjects: Assault rifles; Assault weapons; Governor; Law enforcement; Local government; Police; Sheriffs; White supremacy movements--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Well, you wanna talk a little bit about the national level?

Segment Synopsis: The CDC interferes with what Dr. Fauci can say, so he can't give direct answers to questions about masks. Trump wants to release the vaccine before the election, even though it hasn't gone through many trials. Bush recalls someone from the National Cancer Institute saying that it takes eight years to a breast cancer treatment approved. Meanwhile, the vaccine is getting approved in six months, so many people do not trust the vaccine due to possible unknown side effects. She recalls how unknown side effects of hormone therapy were only found a long time later.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Cancer; CDC; Center for Disease Control; Donald Trump; Dr. Fauci; Election; Hormone therapy; Masks; Medication; National Cancer Institute; President; Side effects; Trial; Trump; Trust in vaccine

Subjects: Center for Disease Control. Quarantine Division; Healthcare; Masks; Presidential elections--2020; Trump, Donald, 1946-; Vaccine industry

Partial Transcript: Alright, Virginia, has anything good happened in your life as a result of the virus?

Segment Synopsis: In Bush's life, everything slowed down, giving her time to work on her projects. Bush talks about how she has difficulty staying focused on Zoom meetings. Zoom has allowed for more people to come to church. They discuss how church announcements and outreach have changed.

Keywords: Announcements; Focus and attention; Meeting; Outreach; Projects

Subjects: Church; Church meetings

Partial Transcript: Well, that brings up something that I wanted to ask you anyways...

Segment Synopsis: Less physical touch is bad for health because it reduces affection. This has long-term impacts now, such as increased anxiety surrounding physical touch. Marginalized people often need physical contact. They also have a lack of mobility and exercise. Many people don't want to go to the doctor because it forces them into isolation.

Keywords: Affection; Anxiety; Doctor; Exercise; Health; Isolation; Marginalized people; Mobility

Subjects: Affection; Doctor and patient; Exercise; Isolation; Touch

Partial Transcript: Virginia, think about like 50 to 100 years when historians are going to analyze this period...

Segment Synopsis: Future historians will analyze why America was so unprepared for the pandemic even after George Bush pushed for pandemic preparedness. Bush explains that this happened because of the perpetual growth economy model which caused society to become self-focused instead of working towards the common good. Due to this, income is distributed so that a few people at the top have most of the money. American individualism has harmed the environment. In the automobile industry, cars were meant to run on corn fuel but standard oil was cheaper.

Keywords: Automobile; Corn fuel; Economy; Environment; George Bush; Income distribution; Individualism; Money; Oil; Perpetual growth; Railroads; Rockefeller; Self-righteous

Subjects: Automobile; Bush, George; Economic growth; Economy; Environment; Income distribution; Individualism

Partial Transcript: Well, this other idea is of American exceptionalism...

Segment Synopsis: There is an idea of American exceptionalism, where people believe that America has the best of everything. Bush explains that this is untrue, especially within healthcare. Somebody from the National Cancer Institute told her the US could not use what many other countries do, which Bush attributes to capitalism. She says capitalism is meant to sustain constant growth, which is impossible. A national health program in England is very organized in testing and vaccine research, while the US has been very chaotic and competitive. One aspect of Catholicism that Bush does not like came up while she was working on NTI with her grandson. He watched a video listed reasons Americans were blessed, and Bush believes the video is brainwashing the children into classism.

Keywords: Blessings; Brainwashing; Cancer; Catholicism; Classism; Constant growth; England; Finite resources; Growth; National health; NTI; Religion; Research; Testing; Vaccine

Subjects: Capitalism; Catholicism; Economic growth; Exceptionalism; Healthcare; National characteristics; Religion; Scarcity; Vaccine industry

Partial Transcript: Anyway, that's a good segue into something else though...

Segment Synopsis: African American communities are affected by the pandemic and environmental injustice more than other races. Social media has helped in bringing attention to police brutality. Many people blamed the victims (George Floyd and Breonna Taylor). Financial pressures made people more likely to protest. People have used the phrase "defunding the police" to scare others. When Bush contacted the police, they gave her demeaning responses, so she hasn't trusted the police even before the pandemic. Floyd and Chauvin worked at the same nightclub. Both police and protests have experienced mob mentality.

Keywords: Black and Brown communities; Breonna Taylor; Defund; Defund the police; Demeaning response; Derek Chauvin; Environmental injustice; Financial pressures; George Floyd; Law enforcement; Mob mentality; Nightclub; Police; Police brutality; Revenge; Scare tactic; Speculation; Stalking; Trust; Victim blaming

Subjects: Blaming the victim; Injustice; Law enforcement; Police; Police brutality; Protest and social movements; Race Across America; Trust; Victim blaming

Partial Transcript: Well, so, I guess we'll go to the last question and that is...

Segment Synopsis: After Covid, Bush anticipates that people will question how they spend their time and what's important to them more. She says that America has never dealt well with death. Her brother is a lawyer and has noticed an increase in the number of people preparing their wills.

Keywords: America; Death; Importance; Jobs; Lawyer; Time; Wills

Subjects: Contracts to make wills; Importance of; Jobs & careers; Lawyer; Wills

Partial Transcript: is there anything else you'd like to talk about or say to have on the record?

Segment Synopsis: Bush hopes that the country will work on improving the healthcare system so that it can support everyone in the country.

Keywords: Inequality; Inequity; Support

Subjects: Healthcare; Inequality