APPNA is the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America of which I am a member.
Today I woke up to this e-Newsletter from APPNA and its President.
It sadly mentions two ongoing issues.
1- Increased vetting of APPNA physicians returning home after traveling abroad and including a past APPNA President to a point where many are now reluctant to travel outside of USA.
2- Decrease in training and residency visas for overseas Physicians, many of whom have invested years and a substantial amount of money going through the process and exams, and when there is a clear and present shortage of the same in America.
My mood went south on reading all this. I thought about my options.
1- Curl up and go to sleep.
2- It is not affecting me, stay out of it.
3- Go on with my day and try and lift up my spirits.
But closing my eyes would not make the dilemma go away.
Too much of this is happening and too close to home.
Houston, we have a problem.
We at APPNA are no schmucks.
This is not Timbuktu but the United States of America in the year 2017.
This is happening to American Physicians and wannabes.
Am I some worried today for writing all this?
Yes for sure.
And no, I refuse to be intimidated and or live in fear.
This is my country, and I am going to own it with all its blessings and ills.
Which brings me to the phenomenon of Golden embolden.
The direct or indirect influence of President Trump on fellow Americans.
With all its good and bad.
Imposed or implied,
and unfortunately with some hatred and discord.
Has President Golden emboldened some Americans to mistreat and demean fellow Americans in subtle and not so subtle ways?
Are personal and civil rights being encroached upon?
Is there growing color intolerance?
I sure hope not, but there are far too many cries of injustice and travesties to call it a coincidence.
President Trump, you are the one most responsible for your legacy and all of this.
As your predecessor rightly said, the buck stops with you.
The hole some emboldened are digging for other Americans would be for all of us to climb out of.
These cries are still easy to ignore, though they are getting louder.
I wish you the very best, for we are in this together.
May the gracious and better shades of Gold shine on all of us for generations to come.
Amen.