During the recent Baltimore riots a mother
became an internet sensation when she recognized her son and pulled him out of
the violence.
A dear friend of ours, (white),
posted the much seen photo on her facebook news feed with a leading message
to her own sons stating she would do the same.
What followed in the comments thread was a shocking eye opener.
Now I believe that mother did
what all mother’s would do.
She was
saving her son.
And I believe she acted
out of fear.
In
America, when injustices needed to
be changed they have been changed in the streets. Protests, and protests that
have turned into riots, and riots that have even turned into war, have led the
way to change.
I also believe that it’s human
nature, black or white, that angry youths (especially males) don’t always
contain their anger.
In life anger often
erupts into violence.
Right now we all have a reason to
be angry.
Black men are dying at the
hands of law enforcement.
And the only
way to change it is to bring it to the streets.
And if you were watching
Baltimore
yesterday, you saw older adult black men out in force to teach the younger
adults and teenagers a better way to be heard.
I’ve taken a long time to get to
the point but there’s much I wanted to say.
My childhood years were lived
during the 1960’s and 70’s in a mostly white town fifteen minutes from East St.
Louis
Illinois, in a family where the adults
used the “n” word often.
Even as a young
child I knew the word was wrong. I knew it was hurtful, ugly.
But changes were fought for and made and the
nation evolved.
We became better. There
came a time when the adults stopped using that word.
The opening commenter on that
facebook thread wrote that the mother should, “kick that “n” ass for being a
“n”.
And what came after was a slew of
comments defending the man’s statement.
I was horrified.
I still am.
How can these people, who I imagine are the
same demographic as me, still feel this way all of these years later?
I would bet that each of these
people consider themselves to be Christians.
Where is their compassion, their empathy? Where is their tolerance?
Why do they feel superior?
I would also bet they have had very little
experience or none at all, being the target of discrimination.
I would also bet they’ve forgotten the
feeling of being young, passionate and angry.
Maybe they are very lucky they were born white in
America.
Yes, now that is a blessing to be thankful
for in their church.
This kind of ignorance is
unforgivable.
How can we hope to live in
a tolerant and peaceful world if we can’t even live in tolerance and peace in
our own nation and our own homes?
