I feel true sadness today. I’ve been reading a lot of comments
about all that has gone on over the past couple of days. There is a lot of
hate, a lot of anger, but fortunately, still a lot of love.
Interestingly, the comment that struck me the most was one
from a woman on Twitter. She was arguing back and forth with a man who was
trying to be rational about the recent shooting of Philando Castile (“we don’t
have all the facts yet,” etc). Her response included referring to him as “you
people” because the man was black, which must mean he is part of some separate
group, right?
First of all, it’s sad to me that so many people jump to
conclusions before we have all the facts. You can blame the media for this, but
I can’t leave it at that. Sure, the media is irresponsible and sometimes it’s
obvious they just want to fan the flames in order to get some juicy coverage,
but there has to be some personal accountability. Maybe your first instinct is
to want to trust people. I get that. It’s a lovely notion. The fact is, though,
there are people that can’t be trusted. People who have agendas and want to intentionally
mislead. And maybe most of the time, there are people who just plain get it
wrong and their misinformation can’t be taken back because 100,000 people have
grasped onto some piece of that straw and run with it. Don’t be one of those
people!
But really, the biggest problem is this: if you consider
someone separate from you, a fellow American, a fellow Human, all due to the
color of their skin, there is no way we will ever be united. How about you
stand up to violence period. How about we unite over the fact that we want to
live in one of the best countries in the world, peacefully, and we don’t want
the few bad apples to ruin that. If you’re going to hold onto the us vs. them
mentality, why do you have to use it to divide? Instead, try looking for the
things that can bridge the gap.
This country is so divisive right now. And why? So you can
live in your tight little box with 1,000 other people who are exactly like you
and will agree with everything thing you believe? Or is it so you can be right?
Everyone knows the United States has some major issues that
need to be addressed. Every country, state, and city in the world does. One
thing you can be sure of, however, is they aren’t going to be solved by refusing
to see things from another perspective once in a while or by fighting violence
with violence.
