Hands up, don’t shoot or I can’t breathed have become the
rallying cry of many across the streets of California to the stores of New York
City. The continued protesting and purposeful violence and destruction fly in
the face of reason. A mom in Phoenix, whose son was also killed in a confused
police encounter, chooses to state loudly that this incident had nothing to do
with race! The mom continues and explains with heavy emotion that it was more
the lack of training in this ‘White’ Phoenix Police Officer that caused the
extreme outcome leaving her grandkids without a dad.
Sir Charles Barkley was pushed by a fellow NBA superstar
commentator to consider recanting on his generalization that the violent
protestors were scumbags in a media rage this last week. I was so encouraged to
her Charles talk about his grandma and her push for him to not judge any
situation before gathering all of the facts. This would seem to be most
reasonable! Yet, a fellow protestor was injured while trying to stop one of
those ‘scumbag’ types that were attempting to destroy a Radio Shack around Cal
Berkley. As our society seems to be unfolding over the apparent injustice of
grand juries to indict ‘White’ police officers, we as a nation are left with a
decision to make. Do you throw reason to the wind ignoring the advice of most
of our grandparents or step back, take a breathe and discover the power of
planned non-violent peaceful protests?
Does change in a society only take place through the destruction
of property and loss of life? Is the underlying assumption that all ‘White
Cops’ are bad and grand juries live to release criminals in the apparent attack
of governmental authority against ‘Black’ men? My heart goes out to the family
of Eric Garner and many others where something happens that doesn’t seem to be
a life threatening offense becomes one. Yes the loss of life is something to
scream about after you have taken the time to understand the why of what
happened and choose to affirm life by not by repeating the past craziness.
Racial reconciliation requires a huge effort on the part of
all of us! It’s very difficult for me, a white man raised in middle class
America, to understand the plight of an African American 20 something that has
suffered under the hand of racism that pushes him to do something crazy because
of always being attacked and put down. I have to stop assuming that all ‘Black’
men I see are ‘bad’ guys trying to either hustle me or corner me and steal my
briefcase. I also don’t get the intimidation I might bring to an African
American leader, because I portray myself as highly educated and the problem
solver, that God has sent to alleviate the ills of their community.
The following quote strikes me as one we need to listen to
and affirm in practical everyday living to see a better tomorrow. “Nobody can
go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new
end!” If we truly want a healthier society where all races are viewed as being
equal then reason must prevail where we can ‘check’ our emotions before we
scream out something that will see another human being injured or killed. The
destruction of property is never going to bring back the life of Mr. Garner or
Mr. Brown!
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