The world is a sad and seemingly broken place right now and I'm struggling with the emotions of everything awful that is happening. In the last week, months, years, decades- there have been so many senseless acts of violence- so many unnecessary deaths- at the hands of guns and race and rash and seemingly unnecessary actions. I can't sit here and say that I understand what Alton Sterling or Philando Castile's families and friends are going through and in such a public and horrific way. I may be half Asian but I look "white" enough that I've never encountered racial profiling or having to worry about my life every time I leave my house or drive my car. I also can't sit here and say I understand what those Dallas police officers and their families and friends are going through. It isn't my job to go out and protect the citizens of my town or my state- to potentially put my life on the line every time I go to work. People are dying, unjustly, and horrifically because we as Americans have a judgment problem. We sit on our thrones, however high they may be, and we cast judgement out into the world in fistfuls. Racial profiling, mom shaming, religious persecution, sexuality, you name it we judge. We try to pretend we don't judge but we do, we absolutely do. And what does it amount to? White men who rape women and are let off with a slap on the wrist bc they're white and go to Stanford, Black men and women who are shot or profiled bc of the color of their skin, Men and Women of all races who are persecuted by the actions of a few- the list could go on and on. I always knew we had a problem, in the back of my mind, but I lived in a bubble and I chose not to see it/participate in it because it didn't directly effect me. Until the Brock Lesner case- bc what he was able to get away with- was incomprehensible to me and the fact they were talking about his swim stats and what a good kid he was made me sick to my stomach. If the races were reversed Brock wouldn't be heralded as a sports star- they would have dug into his background for any sordid detail they could find and that made me absolutely sick to my stomach. The inequality of his treatment vs others. But I didn't know what to do or what to say so I keep those feelings of horror to myself and let them eat away at my gut. Then this week, I forced myself to watch those videos of those black men being killed, because it's not just a black problem it's an American problem. One that cannot be ignored or pushed aside any more. Black lives matter, your life matters, my life matters, those Dallas police officers lives matter, police lives matter- we have to find a way to end the judgement and learn to love and celebrate each other instead of casting judgments and reacting in ways that cause death or deep and lasting hurt and resentment in people. But what can one "white" girl do to make a change? I can only make small changes in such a big world and hope that I send them out into the world to multiply. I can teach my students about compassion, listening to others, that violence is not the answer. I can teach them to celebrate differences, to celebrate and embrace cultures different from their own. I can work to teach them empathy and how to calm themselves before making decisions. Most importantly, I can practice what I preach and raise a man, in Isaac, that is kind, compassionate, that truly listens and works to do better and be better, that loves without judgement, and accepts with an openness who you are and what you believe in. I can chose to come out of my bubble and make myself aware of the problems we have in America- the persecution of our fellow Americans- verbal, non-verbal, and physical- and I can work to do better and be better.
What happened to Alton Sterling and Philando Castile this week was horrific and unjustifiable. What happened to those Dallas police officers was horrific and unjustifiable. Collectively, as a society, we need to do better and be better.
"What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No, not just for some but for everyone"
