Pandemic
It is June, 2020. The United States of America and the World are going through some fundamental core shake up moments.
The Corona Virus or COVID-19, has been a world wide pandemic causing people to social distance, work from home if able, and millions have become unemployed as a result. This has led to diminished incomes, and increased poverty throughout the world.
Many businesses won’t come back from this, while new opportunities will reveal themselves as we get moving into the next year.
George Floyd
In late May, a black man, George Floyd, was detained by police officers in Minneapolis, pushed to the ground, handcuffed and an officer placed his knee on his throat an kept it there for over 7 minutes while George pleaded for mercy and his life. All of this was photographed.
The outrage has been felt like a shot heard round the world. People are protesting and marching in the name of George Floyd, but also the many other Black lives that have been killed in police custody. The Black Lives Moment is actively drawing attention to this in a way that sadly, Colin Kaepernick could not do.
You can not hold up a bible and claim to be a good person. Love your neighbor as yourself is fundamental to scripture, even with all the horrible things that is written in that book. It takes more than standing in front of a church with a book in your hand to bring people together. After all, it is written, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The really story about that passage comes many verses before that, because Cain kills Abel due to his jealousy. This issue is about how we treat our fellow human beings. This issue is how Black people are treated in our society.
Protesting
I have heard it said, or seen it written, that no one gets to tell you how to protest. I agree with that sentiment, and I agree with it because unfortunately the biggest changes in this world have come from violence.
Consider these Articles:
- https://www.chronicle.com/article/Why-Violence-Works/140951
- https://www.gq.com/story/why-violent-protests-work
- And this article misses a point that is explained in the other two articles, but is a good counter point. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/pop-psych/201702/why-non-violent-protests-work
Let’s face it. This country was founded on violence with a revolutionary war. Then we had a civil war. We fought in Wars around the world, in WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. Whether the violence is internal or external, it seems that violence is part of our history.
In one of the articles above, they explain that while Martin Luther King used non-violent protests as a method of creating change, he did it in a way to provoke violence from his adversaries, to create sympathy for his movement.
The Outliers
If you saw any of these types of Memes on one of your chosen social media platforms, understand that this isn’t coming from the black lives matter groups. Trust me, there are a lot of people who are using this protesting time as an opportunity. There are rogue players out there that want to see us all at odds with each other.
To think that Black American’s are not veteran’s, and equal members of our society is the problem. The meme above disgraces Blacks, Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and all other ethnicities and creeds. But this meme was meant to divide us. Don’t be fooled.
The Biggest Change will come in your Heart.
There is a reality that many of us live in a semi segregated society. Sure we encounter people who look different than ourself on occasion. But how many of us have neighbors that are People of Color? What are your experiences with Black people, or if you are Black, of White people? People who live in more densely populated areas probably have more regular interactions with people of all ethnicities, and that is a good thing.
We have to remember that people are individuals, Love each person for who they are. Get to know your neighbors. Get to understand that people have different life experiences that have brought them to this moment in time and you may very well be fortunate enough to make this friend.
It’s not easy to change decades of prejudice and hate over night. But we can do it.
BLM, Kaepernick and the Police
Just in case you thought I missed it, let’s highlight one important thing. This issue is about institutionalize racism in police departments nation wide. This is the problem that the Black Lives Matter group is trying to solve. People are tired of police officers killing Black people. There simply is not video after video of other minorities that have been brutally mishandled by police officers in the way that Black people have in the US, nation wide. Kaepernick tried to highlight the problem protesting in the NFL, but audience which tends to be Conservative White men couldn’t hear the message, and just saw him spitting on their beloved flag, which of course he did NOT do at all.
Was this the catalyst to bring the change in America that is needed? I hope this is it. I really hope we don’t need another Black person to die at the hands of police to fix the problem. Police should be there to uphold the law. They should protect and serve. We need police in our society, just as we need firemen, and all other public servants. But they work for us. When I was in the Navy, I remembered that it was an honor and a privilege to be a member of the Armed Forces.
There needs to be a national code of conduct for police. Treating everyone fair and equally under the law. Should be part of it.
This moment in time
It’s hard in this moment in time. There are so many moving parts to the world happening. It is not just this one thing and sometimes it is just one thing. But the barrage of imagery showing violence can bring you down. The barrage of imagery of people losing their jobs, and masks and isolation can bring you down. We are more divided than ever.
In this moment in time, say no more.
In this moment in time, say I will not let hate divide me. In this moment in time be the best human being you can be, and bring about the positive change in the world that helps the betterment of all humankind.