Anyone with half a head and part of a heart knows that what’s happening in the world right now isn’t right.
It’s a story that has lived in America for centuries, the years and layers of blood embedded in the very soil on which our children are raised. And while we have seen some of its ugliness before, it feels very different now, perhaps because of the leadership in charge. Maybe that’s why while I usually do my best to steer clear from political commentary, I can no longer remain silent, and this website must take a moment to take a stand.
As a biracial gay man of a certain age, I am well aware of prejudice and marginalization.
As the son of a doctor and nursing professor, I am also well aware of my privilege, mostly economic, which intersects with and sometimes transcends other issues.
But I will never know what it’s like to be a black person in this country.
I am, however, quite sure that every black person has been treated differently at one time or another because of their race. I know this to be true. You know it too. Deep down… you know it too. We have to start there.
I’ve seen far too many people playing on the safe side of not taking a stand, or worse, taking a position on each singular incident of riot and protest as if it existed in and of itself, and not part of years of systemic inequality, racial profiling, and derelict leadership.
Kneeling didn’t work. You said it was disrespectful. And you know what? You further shamed such peaceful acts of protest. Now you are upset about what these protests have become. Think about that. In essence, you don’t want any form of protest, and I understand that. It’s uncomfortable. It’s disturbing. It goes against your beliefs.
But the Boston Tea Party was a riot of destruction.
The Stonewall riot was a riot of destruction.
Each was a movement to bring about the destruction of imbalance and inequality.
Kneeling, it turns out, wasn’t enough. And if you can’t understand the need for these protests, or at the very least be empathetic to why it’s happening, if you are so narrow-minded as to treat these actions as criminal acts that are happening outside of a cycle of historical oppression, then I respectfully request that you take a moment and think about the real history of America. This country was built on such oppression. Racism has been woven into the fabric of our existence. We have perpetuated it in ways overt and hidden, in the basic make-up of our social strata, in how and where we live.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to navigate a life that accepts everyone openly and without judgment. Quite often, I fail miserably. But I’m still going to try. A long time ago I read “A People’s History of the United States of America” by Howard Zinn. A white man wrote about what atrocities the European settlers inflicted on the Native Americans, and later how the insidious stain of slavery bled through everything leading up to the riots of the 1960’s and beyond. The story continues to this day. The fight is necessary. The violence erupts when passive resistance goes unheeded, and the murders of black people continue to happen.
Black Lives Matter. We should all be saying that, and without qualifying it by saying Blue Lives Matter or All Lives Matter. That intentionally misses the point of the movement, as well as trying to once again erase the ugly parts of our country’s history. It’s time to acknowledge that, and make motions to see our own prejudices and privilege, as well as understanding the need to push back when justice continues to languish.
