If you have not heard about this story, please read about it. It should be on everyone's mind.
I realize that it's 2:11 am. I also know most sane people are fast asleep right now, but this is literally keeping me up tonight. I cannot shake this story. I live in the south. This story and every story like it make me ashamed to live where I live. It makes me afraid to raise my son here. It's hard to teach your child love, acceptance, and community when they seem to be surrounded by hatred, bigotry, and injustice. I wept as I read about these young people. And then I was angered by the fact that the country would rather talk about how late Brittney Spears stayed out and who she was with. I want to SCREAM!
It's like the Holocaust. Ask any American child over the age of 12 and they know exactly what the holocaust is. They know what a concentration camp is. But ask them about Americas internment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII. Good luck. We like to talk about what Germany and Hitler did cause it makes us look good, but what we did?? Ohhh shush about that. It's not important. Now, I know that we weren't killing those people and the two things are not in any way identical, but it's the best example I have at two in the morning. We, as a country and sometimes as individuals, criticize and critique everyone else's behavior, and yet here we are, locking up high school kids over a fight that never should have been in the first place. That's how we resolve things??? Take a side and squash the opposition??? There should be no sides in this situation. The only correct position to be in is the one where it doesn't matter who the fuck sits under what tree because we are all HUMANS!!!
Okay. I feel a little better. Not much, but maybe enough for my brain to shut up and let me get back to sleep.
Thanks for reading
2 comments:
Bean, I understand your frustration. Racism is an unfortunate fact of our society and of the world. Racism can affect anyone of color, white, brown, yellow, & black. Racism affects us all. Those of us who have never faced racism will not know, understand or be compassionate to it's plight on our society.
Growing up I knew racism first hand. Going to school in a small town that was 80% mexican and the other 20% mainly white, some black, and some puerto-rican. Daily I was harassed for my white skin. It truly puts things in perspective when you live the flip side of the coin. Then as I got older I came north & east of where I had been living and saw some of my first rememberances of racism between whites and blacks. Where I live today blacks hate whites with an equal passion that whites hate blacks. And those few of us on either side of the coin who do not hate because of skin color are hated with even more passion. I'm distraught by all of this hate over skin color. I agree with your statement, "The only correct position to be in is the one where it doesn't matter who the fuck sits under what tree because we are all HUMANS!!!"
Here's an interesting link for you to read: http://byrd.senate.gov/speech-schoolreligion.htm
My apologies in advance to anyone my point of view with whom it strongly disagrees with.
Bean, thank you for posting the link and for being concerned. We all need to be aware of it and we all need to take action against racism.
While I take a much different stance on religion in school, we both agree about the morality of judging people by color, or any other reason. I love that you posted that link. It gave me insight to your point of view. I think we, as a country, should be SCREAMING about this, and many many other things too. But, alas, this isn't a post, or a political blog either, lol.
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