Richard Lu It’s 10:00 AM on a Saturday and you’ve woken up with a terrible case of bedhead.
“That’s alright, I’ll just take a shower” you think to yourself. Yet, the more time you spend scrubbing and brushing your hair, the more it becomes apparent that your messy hair has won. Finally you turn to your trusty last resort: a fresh haircut. You immediately call your favorite salon, but much to your surprise, no one picks up. The hair salon is closed today. In fact, it’s been closed for a few months now, and it’s not alone—all of the salons are closed! That’s been the case for the majority of Americans since early 2020—especially for those in California. However, to understand how we got to this point, we’ll first need to look at a recap of the events. As COVID-19 began spreading to the United States and much of the rest of the world in February 2020, California’s state governor Gavin Newsom hastily put his foot down on March 19, 2020 with the hopes of stopping the spread within the state dead in its tracks. In his rather terse “stay at home” order, Governor Newsom instructed for the entirety of California—except for “essential workers” such as health care providers—to remain at home and close their businesses in order to reduce contact between individuals. Included with those that had to close (and with no future reopening plans in sight), salon and barbershop owners were rendered helpless as they watched what for many was their only source of income slip away into the vice of COVID-19. This salon shutdown hit Vietnamese Americans in the state the hardest, as Vietnamese Americans own nearly 75% of all salons and comprise nearly 80% of the nail technician workforce in California. After being left in the dark for several months, the beauty services industry finally caught a break in late July when Newsom allowed for services such as barbershops, nail salons, and massage parlors to reopen in outdoors accommodations. However, by then the damage had been done; though they were allowed to reopen outdoors, only an estimated 20% of all salons actually reopened. The other 80% of salons were either on the brink of collapsing on rent (and therefore logistically could not reopen in time) or had closed down permanently. In fact, in a survey done by CalMatters in regards to reopening, 1/10 salons in Santa Clara County reported that they had permanently closed as a result of COVID-19 and Newsom’s lockdown order. This late break ended up being short-lived though, as sudden spikes in COVID-19 cases in California forced Newsom to lock down the state once again in early December 2020. With that, the fate of what was left of the Vietnamese American-owned beauty industry went up in the air. This brings us to today: early 2021. With salons and barbershops still closed and again with no true reopening plan in sight, many Vietnamese Americans in California (and various other states as well) are left counting the days until they can no longer provide for themselves and their families with their underwhelming unemployment benefits of $100 a week. On top of that, with a normal median salary of $23,000 for nail technicians, it’s unlikely that the average salon worker has enough money in their savings—if any at all. However, the damage done by these shutdowns is far from being solely financial. When the March lockdown first started, Newsom’s message included a shocking statement that immediately garnered discourse within the Vietnamese American community: “This whole thing started in the state of California—the first community spread—in a nail salon. I just want to remind you, remind everybody, of that. I’m very worried about that.” The community demanded sources. Facts. Proof. Newsom’s statement seemed to come out of the blue, and with no response from the governor even amidst the community’s overwhelming demand for evidence, it only sounded more and more like a lie. Regardless, the negative image of salons generated by Newsom had already done it’s damage. In its wake, nail salons saw monumentally low customer volume when they reopened; shops that normally saw dozens of customers a day would be lucky if they managed to see 10 during COVID-19 times. Over the course of the three months that they were allowed to reopen, it was clear that salons—and the Vietnamese American community—were once again at the mercy of COVID-19. Now, it would be erroneous to not mention the certain victories that the Vietnamese American community achieved in the face of COVID-19. Though many were rendered financially helpless with the initial closures, this did not stop the community from voicing their upset against Newsom’s blind-eye toward nail salons. In fact, it was the community’s relentless efforts in getting their discontent through to Newsom that finally pushed him to include salons in the reopening plans of August 2020. On top of that, their collective effort to collect, produce, and donate PPE equipment to health professionals helped prove that the Vietnamese American community (and their salons) are more professional than many perceived them to be. So, while the world continues its grand battle against the proliferation of COVID-19, the Vietnamese American community and their salons anxiously stand by waiting for the moment when they can finally reopen—that is, reopen for real. In the meantime, it’s important to make sure that we do our duty in stopping the spread as well. Wear a mask in public, maintain a minimum distance of six feet from other individuals, and stay at home. Though the world is separated, stopping the spread of COVID-19 remains a collective effort, and it’s imperative we remain faithful of social distancing procedures and the health professionals fighting for our lives.
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