The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.30 What This NEW Coronavirus News REALLY Means, Lil Nas X RANT Response, & American Dirt

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you've had a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is this story that involves Lil Nas X

Starting point is 00:00:14 and a guy by the name of Pastor Troy. And it appears that Pastor Troy recently got triggered by two things, in fact. One, it appears the Old Town Road singer, and two, mozzarella sticks. And we know that thanks to Pastor Troy going on what some have called a homophobic rant on Instagram, posting this picture of Lil Nas X, writing,

Starting point is 00:00:33 "'Well, guess I won't be winning a Grammy "'if this what I gotta wear. "'They love to push this shit on our kids.'" Troy then went on to describe a recent trip that he took to Applebee's with his 14 year old son, where he says they saw, quote, "'Some punks kissing and laughing, "'eating mozzarella sticks.'"

Starting point is 00:00:46 According to Troy, the first thing his son said was F Applebee's, which he says brought joy to his heart. "'He sees it, their agenda to take the masculinity "'from men, black men especially. "'Some say he makin' money. "'RuPaul do too, but I ain't bumpin' his CD. "'Integrity is priceless. "'Y'all better open that third eye

Starting point is 00:01:01 "'and let your sons know what is real, "'or they ass gonna be headed down "'that old town road For real now that post it got some support But there was also a wave of massive backlash a number of people pointing out There are probably a lot of talent related reasons as to why he got the Grammy and not so much the outfit though regarding the outfit Lil Nas X did respond to posting damn I look good in that pic on God Lil Nas X and others also meaning the situation mainly about pastor Troy's reaction when he sees gay

Starting point is 00:01:24 Men eating mozzarella sticks. And as far as my reaction to this, one, I know there are gonna be a number of people that agree with Pastor Troy. I grew up with a number of people that had this kind of thinking. I also know that a ton of people are gonna enjoy dunking on Pastor Troy.

Starting point is 00:01:37 But really, one of the main things that stands out to me, and it's more kind of a sad feeling, is it's just kind of a highlighting of someone that's raising their child to be hateful. You know, that just like seeing someone living their life, doing something that does not affect you in any way, brings them joy, does not hurt anybody else. That brings anger to your soul.

Starting point is 00:01:55 The idea that there's this massive gay agenda, like are you worried that they're trying to make the kids gay? Like is that what you think's happening? Because the only real agenda, if you can even call it that, appears to be just allowing others to be accepted, to make people feel less isolated, to know that they're not alone,

Starting point is 00:02:11 to just show that the behavior of making someone feel less than because of the way that they were born is not appropriate. So that's why I say to Pastor Troy and the Pastor Troys of the world, go fuck yourself. And I will say, it always feels a little bit suspect when, unprompted, a man decides to kind of go on a rant like this.

Starting point is 00:02:27 I'm not saying anything, it's just, you know, historically a lot of self-hatred has been taught. But anyway, that's the story, my reaction. Moving on. Then let's talk about this controversy around a book called American Dirt, which you may have heard about. And the reason for that is the tensions around it

Starting point is 00:02:40 sort of hit a boiling point over the last 24 hours. If you haven't heard of the book, it's a fictional story about a woman who flees from Mexico with her son after the cartel kills her husband. They become migrants heading towards the United States in hopes that they can find safety there. Now the book actually already hit shelves on January 21st. It was widely regarded as one of the big books

Starting point is 00:02:56 to look out for in 2020. In fact, there was so much anticipation, it had so much buzz that it's already been optioned for a film adaptation. Another huge thing for this is that Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club, saying in an Instagram post, "'This story changed the way I see what it means "'to be a migrant in a whole new way.'"

Starting point is 00:03:11 But the thing is, there's a major controversy now behind who wrote this book, because its author, Janine Cummins, is not Mexican or an immigrant and is mostly white. And many believe that by having a white author tell the story of a Mexican immigrant, they are whitewashing an incredibly relevant story, and that it really should not be Cummins' story

Starting point is 00:03:26 to tell in the first place. Now the controversy around her whiteness contains some nuance. In the story she wrote in the New York Times back in 2015, she says that she is white. She notes that she has a Puerto Rican grandmother, but says that quote, in every practical way, her family is still mostly white.

Starting point is 00:03:37 But in an interview about this book, she says that she is Latinx, while still adding that she felt unqualified to write the story because it is not her lived experience. In fact, in her author's note, she says, I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it. Also in that note, she says that her husband came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant, but there she does not specify that the country that he came to the States from was Ireland,

Starting point is 00:03:56 which is obviously a different migration experience than someone trying to cross the Mexican-U.S. border. So with that, a lot of people thought that with this book coming out, Cummins was sort of changing the narrative of her racial identity and her relationship to immigration. But still, the story was being pushed by its publishers as one of the most important books for our times and a new American classic. But as far as when the backlash got really crazy, a lot of that involved Oprah. You had Oprah announcing her book club book. You had Gina Rodriguez and Salma Hayek promoting the selection. All three of them ended up getting slammed, though.

Starting point is 00:04:22 It is worth noting that both Gina and Salma deleted their posts. Salma actually apologized for promoting the book without reading it. Among those criticizing the book are the likes of Esmeralda Bermudez, who is notably an immigrant herself. Her family came by foot from El Salvador to the United States and in the LA Times she wrote about her take

Starting point is 00:04:36 on American Dirt, saying, "'What made me cringe was immediately realizing "'that this book was not written for people like me, "'for immigrants. "'It was written for everyone else, to enchant them, "'take them on a wild border crossing ride, make them feel all fuzzy inside about the immigrant plight, all unfortunately with the worst stereotypes,

Starting point is 00:04:52 fixations, and inaccuracies about Latinos. But he also started sharing a review written by Miriam Gerba back in December after she read an advance copy of American Dirt, and there she said that the novel and Cummins, appropriated works by people of color, slapped a coat of mayonnaise on the story to make it more palatable to American taste buds,

Starting point is 00:05:07 and repackaged the story for colorblind consumption. With others also believing that some of the promotion for the novel was insensitive. Though, it is important to note here, some have defended the book. Sandra Cisneros, the Mexican-American author of the acclaimed The House on Mango Street, spoke to NPR about the book,

Starting point is 00:05:20 saying that it could reach an audience, who quote, maybe is undecided about issues at the border. It's going to be someone who wants to be entertained and the story is going to enter like a Trojan horse and change minds. And it's going to change minds that perhaps I can't change. As far as any other fallout and reactions, we saw Oprah taking to Instagram on the book club's account.

Starting point is 00:05:37 I spent the past few days listening to members of the Latinx community to get a greater understanding of their concerns. And I hear them, I do. So what I wanna do is bring people together from all sides to talk about this book and who gets to publish what stories. Still, you had a lot of people calling for Oprah to remove this book from her book club.

Starting point is 00:06:02 There were whole petitions with writers signing. Though at this time, it does appear that the book has remained on Oprah's book club. And we also saw Flatiron Books, which published American Dirt, canceling the book tour for the novel over safety concerns. In a statement, they said, "'The discussion around this book has exposed

Starting point is 00:06:16 "'deep inadequacies in how we at Flatiron Books "'address issues of representation, "'both in the books we publish "'and in the teams that work on them.'" Also adding that they regret the way they rolled everything out including promotion of it as a definitive story about the migrant experience, talking about Cummins' husband being an undocumented immigrant without noting that he was from Ireland, and using some insensitive concepts when promoting the book. Regarding the cancellation,

Starting point is 00:06:36 they said this was based on specific threats to booksellers and the author. We believe there exists real peril to their safety. And so now instead of the book tour, they say they'll be hosting town hall meetings where Cummins can talk about the points being made about her book so the conversation can still continue. But ultimately, that's where we are with this story. And as far as an opinion, I think for me it's hard. Because I think, sure, there are probably a number of people

Starting point is 00:06:55 that are angry that it's like, oh, it's this white woman writing a story that she has no connection to whatsoever. But that feels like a small part of the anger. It feels kind of like two things. One, people feel like she misrepresented herself, or specifically her husband, which is a situation where you have to kind of project intent, right?

Starting point is 00:07:09 Was it kind of a fumbling of the situation, or was it done on purpose? And secondly, a big chunk of the anger seems to be focused on the actual content in the book, the stereotypes. And at this point, I have not read the book, so I can't comment on it, but that's also part of the reason these controversies

Starting point is 00:07:22 usually lead to the books doing better. While there's a controversy, it's also a ton of free promotion. Like, I'm, this is gonna shock you, I don't track Oprah's Book Club. I did not know that this book existed. But now I, you, so many others know that it's a thing. It's a part of an ongoing conversation.

Starting point is 00:07:39 There is a debate and, you know, curiosity can and often will lead to sales. But hey, that's the story, some of my thoughts, and of course I pass the question off to you, what are your thoughts about this whole situation? Also, for my readers out there, have you read this book? What are your thoughts? And then, let's talk about the latest updates

Starting point is 00:07:51 around the coronavirus. You know, we've been seeing almost constant updates with the numbers, how many people are dead, how many people have been infected. And this morning, according to Chinese officials, the death toll had risen to 170, the number of cases also continuing to increase. As of this morning, that number had jumped to more than 8,200 cases reported worldwide. And you know, with this story,

Starting point is 00:08:08 we've also seen a number of updates from around the world. WHO, the World Health Organization, has just declared this situation a global health emergency, with its biggest concern being countries with weaker healthcare systems that are ill-prepared to deal with the virus. Just this morning, Russian officials announced that the country was closing its southern border with China. Also in China, the virus has reportedly spread to every region in the country. And there, of course, some cities like that of Wuhan, where the virus was first seen, they remain on lockdown to try to prevent

Starting point is 00:08:30 the spread of the virus. In the US, CDC this morning announced that there are now six cases of the coronavirus in the country. Right in with this, we're seeing big headlines about the first human-to-human transmission in the United States. But there, one, we already knew that people could give it

Starting point is 00:08:42 to one another, it just hadn't happened here yet. And two, this case actually just involves a woman who gave it to her husband. This after she reportedly directly went to Wuhan and contracted the virus. But also, as kind of an aside, we also saw odd headlines this morning with Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross saying, Every American's heart has to go out to the victims of the coronavirus. So I don't want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease. But the fact is, it does give businesses yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain. So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to US, probably some to Mexico as well.

Starting point is 00:09:25 So that is an interesting angle to be looking at. There's also an interesting story involving the coronavirus and Italy, or rather kind of just off of Italy. We're seeing reports now that thousands aboard a cruise ship in Italy aren't being allowed to leave that ship. This because one Chinese woman on that ship came down with a fever. Reportedly, she's also experiencing respiratory problems,

Starting point is 00:09:44 both of which are symptoms of the coronavirus, so there are very real fears that she might have contracted it. And so when the ship docked this morning, passengers were told that they could not leave. And reportedly, there's about 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members aboard this ship unable to leave. Meanwhile, that woman and her husband,

Starting point is 00:09:57 who has not shown symptoms of the virus, were both placed in isolation. Right, and so as medical staff worked to figure out what was causing this woman's symptoms, we saw people waiting on decks and halls with their luggage, all waiting for the announcement of when they could leave. And as far as when that will come, according to the telegraph,

Starting point is 00:10:11 test results are expected to come later today. But if that woman is infected with the virus, everyone on board could be quarantined for up to two weeks. However, we're also seeing reports from the Washington Post that 1,143 passengers who plan to get off at this stop would be allowed to leave. Though, notably here, it did not specify when. So right now we're kind of waiting and everyone's in limbo.

Starting point is 00:10:28 And literally, as we're finishing this show today, we saw an update from the Italian Health Ministry confirming that the woman's test came back negative. She actually has the flu, but according to CNN, we still don't know when passengers will be let off the ship. Also, around this whole outbreak, there's actually another point that I wanna hit on. Kind of like with Tuesday where I talked about the flu

Starting point is 00:10:43 and how deadly this season has been, I wanna put this outbreak into perspective. Especially since as of this morning, we're seeing reports that it has surpassed the early 2000s outbreak of SARS in China. Right, severe acute respiratory syndrome, which is also caused by a coronavirus. Right, and that virus infected nearly 8,100 people

Starting point is 00:10:57 from November 2002 to August 2003. Right, and by comparison, the first case of this new coronavirus occurred on New Year's Eve. The numbers look kind of scary. You're looking at the difference of nine months to one month. And here's the thing with that, there are a few differences. All the findings with SARS was that it was really only contagious once people showed symptoms.

Starting point is 00:11:15 They had a fever, they were coughing. However, with this new coronavirus, China's National Health Commission has said that it can actually spread during the incubation phase, which is the period where you're infected but might not know yet because you aren't showing any symptoms, which is also why you're seeing kind of the two-week quarantines and such,

Starting point is 00:11:28 and why the number of cases has accelerated so fast because you don't even know you have it. But this morning you also had a lot of media outlets talking about this new virus overtaking SARS' record, some giving context by mentioning that incubation phase, other major outlets just skipping over that completely with salacious headlines, also a number of outlets not mentioning that this is so much less deadly than SARS was.

Starting point is 00:11:48 When you look at headlines like that, maybe you're like, oh, well, this is some sort of super virus. Just knowing about that incubation phase part could change the question and also prevention. It's part of the reason it's spreading so fast because people just don't know they have it and can't catch it early.

Starting point is 00:12:00 But with all of this, the number of cases, the cruise ship, the SARS comparison, we're also seeing a ton of fear and xenophobia. So much so that we're now seeing doctors trying to better educate people as we see the constant updates, these scary headlines. I mean, yesterday we saw Dr. Mike over on his channel posting a whole video about the situation,

Starting point is 00:12:15 telling people to be alert, not anxious. Also urging people to make sure they're getting information from reputable places like the CDC and the World Health Organization. With this, we see Dr. Mike posing a question that I think a lot of people probably had when they first heard the story. Now you may be wondering to yourself,

Starting point is 00:12:28 is this a dangerous virus? Well, the answer is it depends. It can become severe in about 20% of cases, leading to pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, leading to ventilation or even death in some circumstances. For those of you who are living in the US, this is certainly a potential threat we should be on the lookout for.

Starting point is 00:12:47 With all the international travel that goes on in the world today, it's very easy to spread a virus from one country to another. That being said, with only five cases here in the US, with zero deaths thus far, this is not a crisis and not a reason to panic. There's been many headlines in media

Starting point is 00:13:05 that are trying to scare you into panicking because it urges you to click. And when you click, they earn money. Do not fall for this. So I think with this situation, the main key points, alert, not anxious, caution. And I think that's something that we kind of just have to remember, repeat, because in a situation like this,

Starting point is 00:13:21 it's very easy for feelings to take over. Because much like this virus, an unwarranted level of fear and panic can spread very easily if not properly managed. But with that said, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on the story at hand, both with the coronavirus and the coverage we've seen with it.

Starting point is 00:13:36 And that is where I'm going to end today's show. Thanks again for watching my little daily news show. We love having you. And remember, if you're looking for more to watch, you can check out yesterday's Philip DeFranco show. Maybe you missed it, you wanna catch up, or check out my brand new podcast with Gus Johnson. Click or tap right there to watch

Starting point is 00:13:49 either of those right now. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time. I hope you like this video. Subscribe if you like it.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.30 What This NEW Coronavirus News REALLY Means, Lil Nas X RANT Response, & American Dirt

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