In the midst of all the chaos and confusion that seems to be an everyday occurrence in some of our biggest cities, my fear is two-fold. One, the people in the streets are not acting in the best interests for whom they say they are acting on their behalf, and two, the onlookers must not stand idly by as if rubber-necking an accident. This is no accident. The onlookers need not confront the “street folks” on their turf, so to speak, because it will only lead to more violence and destruction, and by the way, stop the whole, “Love trumps hate” motto. It doesn’t. Education defeats hate. The law defeats hate. No, the onlookers need to condemn the politicians who do not condemn these acts and who, in many ways, condone it. The adage, “What you do not condemn, you condone” is true in this. The onlookers need to be proactive in contacting politicians, writing letters to their local newspapers, and voting out those who will not protect the citizenry. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead. But what if those committed citizens do not have our best interests in mind? What if the other thoughtful, committed citizens just stood on the sidelines? I would rather consider this, "We are bound by ideals that teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these ideals. Every citizen must uphold them.... I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character." George W. Bush. If you sit idly by and do nothing then expect everything.
Also, it is important for us to understand that this is not so much a racial issue as the protestors would have you believe, but more so a cultural ineptitude of understanding. Again, education, and I mean, objective, holistic, and inclusive education is the key to reversing this trend of race and class war. I would offer this analogy. Let’s imagine that each of us is a judge. We are hearing two sides of a case. One side presents their argument, the other has their chance. No interruptions, no objections, no courtroom theatrics. The judge (you) then makes a decision based on the evidence presented equally by both sides. But both sides must present evidence based cases. If we are to overcome racial identities and simply call ourselves American, then why are there African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans? Why do we have to have black studies or women’s studies classes in college? Why do we need diversity classes in school? Those are not designed to bring together the idea of the human race, but differentiate us. Yes, there are folks with different skin color, and folks of differing sexes, but I talk as the human race, where either (or both) color and sex do not call attention to itself, but more so as an indicator of character and contribution. If the texts would simply include all in one text, then we would not have to take part in a clear, political, and cultural attempt to shape our thinking. Simply go to an anthology, open it up, and you will see writers of all walks, nationalities and races. It is not an overt attempt to sway our thinking one particular way, or “educate us” because they think we are ignorant. Do we not read poetry and short stories of “The Harlem Renaissance” in our English textbooks? Do we not read hispanic, asian, and women’s literature as well? Do we not learn of the great contributions of blacks, hispanics, asians, and so on in our history books (if instructed objectively)? America’s diversity is her strength.
One need only go to Switzerland, Germany, France, China, and so on. Read their literature. Read their history books. Do you think they are as diverse as us? Not even close, and yet we are constantly being reminded by certain groups that we are racists, systemic and otherwise. Did racism stop Carver from becoming a scientist? Was Carver’s advanced degrees a result of racism? Was Sarah Breedlove a victim of racism when she created the Madam CJWalker line of hair care products? Was it racism that prevented Martha Jones, inventor from being the first black woman to have something patented? Did racism stop Oprah? Thomas Sowell? Dr. Ben Carson? Harold Amos? Barack Obama and a slew of others? There is no denying there are still issues, but if we continue to draw the distinction of color, race, and/or gender, are we not simply perpetuating the problem? Are we not simply classifying by identifying? I find it ironic that a certain segment of our culture looks to binary as an option, yet still draws heavily on race, color, and gender as profound differences.
When we enact quotas, are we not basically saying, “You are not up to our standards, so we have to make special standards”? If we do away with standardized tests, are we not saying that blacks and/or hispanics are inferior in the world of academia, and yet I just provided a handful of great black Americans that would argue otherwise? If we do not recognize that “all” kids should have a choice in where they go to school, are we then saying, stay quiet, mind your place? You can insert hispanics in this same argument, so I apologize if it seems that I am neglecting them. On the contrary, their contributions have been no less than other minorities who inhabit this great country.
I find it disheartening that political parties use these races to pit against one another when it is they who supposedly espouse unity. I find it disappointing that certain groups continue to badger and point fingers at people they don’t even know and just assume that because of where they are raised or how they speak, they are racists. Or, if someone is a Christian, surely they are racist. The true racists are the race baiters. The true racists continue to use color as the problem rather than understand and work on the solution. Brow-beating someone into feeling guilty about the color of their skin is nothing more than a scare tactic, highly inflammatory, and stereotyping. They spit and scoff at the quote used by MLK, Jr., where he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Too bad those race baiters can’t honor MLK’s wisdom and wish.
I could offer mounds of statistics, data, and research that would vigorously challenge the people rioting in the streets, but as we have seen, the “science” of it all is being dismissed because the narrative plays more to the emotional and not the rational, reasonable, and scientific. A woman crying in the streets for justice or equality has more effect than actual data and science would suggest, but how many of us pursue that information? We have become glued to the specter of the time and the accident taking place. We are part of the problem when we do not activate our human decency in response to misinformation and misguided people.
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