I Thought We Were All Humans.
For much of my life, I kept my head in the sand with regard to the news. I decided ignorance is bliss. But sometime around January, I started paying attention again.
The world is collapsing around us.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died, and the virus is nowhere near its natural conclusion. Half of our country insists that it’s safe to wander mask-less through the streets; the other half warns of impending doom if we allow ourselves such freedoms.
I am in the latter half. I’ve been studying the countries ravaged by this disease before it hit our country. And everything I learn points to a sharp second wave that will sicken and kill thousands more.
To me, the protests about reopening the country seemed silly. Who’s going to cave to the vocal minority’s demands? And yet…
Here we are. The nation is opening up, even though the case numbers aren’t in the “safe” range for reopening. Even though millions are ignoring precautionary measures and selfishly doing it “their” way.
And then…
Yet another person was killed by a cold-hearted bully in the U.S. And the sociopath “leading” our country offered to defend the victim by shooting anyone who had the audacity to riot.
So our cities went up in flames. Peaceful protests were attempted. Riots erupted everywhere.
The cause is just: we expect all Americans to be treated equally. Like the Constitution says. Like the Bible says. Like common sense says.
White eggs and brown eggs are exactly the same inside, just like us. This is something I know to be true in the deepest part of my soul.
But somehow, crawling out from under countless moldy rocks, thousands of slimy racist creatures are emerging. If they weren’t so repulsive, I’d think them almost comical.
But they are real; they’ve incited riots. Which incited more riots.
While every dark-skinned person has known forever that these creatures not only existed but openly thrived in our country, I had my head in the sand on that. I spent my life believing that an 1865 speech, and another one in 1968, somehow changed the world.
After all, that’s what they taught me in school. I learned that all people living in the United States had the same inalienable rights. And those speeches that they taught us in school weren’t just words to me; they represented a change that had actually taken place.
Why wouldn’t this be true? HOW couldn’t this be true? Up until just a short time ago, I believed wholeheartedly that the color of our skin, the religion we practice, the language we speak, our sexual orientation, and the country of our ancestors’ births were 100% irrelevant factors in deciding whether or not to treat someone with kindness.
I mean, I thought we were all humans. More importantly, I thought everyone thought we were all humans.
But what I see is our country on the verge of another civil war. If our eyes weren’t opened before, they simply must be open now. The slime won’t crawl back under their rocks, and the rest of us are dumbstruck and furious that they’ve done irreparable damage to not only the people who have died, but to the very soul of this country.
And this war is beginning right in the heart of a pandemic that’s killing more than a thousand people every day.
I pray to God that we find a peaceable solution – simple acceptance of our fellow human beings – before more people have to die.
And yet, they are still dying – right now – literally, as I write.