A week and a half ago we hosted our friends for a little cookout. They were heading away to move to the mountains and we needed a chance to say goodbye.
While we were catching up, my friend was telling me about her daughter and things going on with her. The sweet daughter had just finished a year long program to fill in that "gap year" that kids take while attempting to figure out what they would like to do with their lives after high school. It was an incredible experience for her, so much so that she is returning to the facility as a employee this year! Each student that goes there must work through some issues they have to grow into a more productive human, if you will. (For my friend's daughter, I think she just needed to learn to love herself for how wonderful she is, but don't tell anyone.) One girl there struggled with depression. The group had to work there way through how to be in someone's life during hard times. This one girl is the reason for this story. As my friend was discussing her daughter's time away, she told me about a more recent interaction. All of the students had created a group chat to keep in touch. One girl had said something and my friend's daughter replied with, "You're so cute" or something like that. (Since she is one of my few readers, she can correct it in the comments if she so chooses.) The girl dealing with depression chimes in with, "So what? The rest of us are all ugly?" Now, any rational adult rolls their eyes and says, "Oh please! She never said that!" Why is that? As we know, just because you compliment someone, does not mean that you insult another. I know, here and now, that God gave me that story on Monday afternoon to better grasp what is happening in our country. Because a few short hours after hearing that story, George Floyd was murdered. With the publishing of that story, the Black Lives Matter movement gained a great deal more push. Let's see how these stories relate. In 2014, another black man was killed by an officer. That is when Black Lives Matter took root in American culture. If you know me, you know I'm the least racist person ever, well, at least that's what my dating history says. And yet, when they shouted, "Black Lives Matter!" I responded with "All Lives Matter." I was thinking that I was being more inclusive. Black, White, Latino, Jewish, Swedish, Ugandan, Irish, you name it, it matters! Though there has been great tragedy, I'm thankful to admit to you that I have grown since 2014. I have seen the error of my ways. Even though in essence I felt I was being inclusive of all people, I was taking away from what it meant. While they were saying, "You're so cute," I was saying, "So everyone else is ugly?" I was naive. I thought I was joining not just my black brothers and sisters, but also my Arabian, English, Russian, and Italian. Saying that black lives matter does not take away from any other race, in this country or any other. We're simply trying to tell those around us that they do in fact matter, and things still are not equal. There is a cartoon video going around discussing systemic racism. I encourage anyone on the fence or confused to watch it. You can find it on Facebook from the page "NowThis Politics." I happened upon it and watched it wondering if it would be a good tool for my children (which it is). As I watched, I realized that my son and I had already gone through this lesson two February's ago. If you have the chance, I encourage you to read the book, "Separate, but NOT Equal" by Jim Haskins. It was published by Scholastic and is intended for children. The problem is that too many adults were never truly taught about the social injustice. We learned of the Civil War and the official end of slavery. We learned about the Civil Rights Movement. However, our history books never taught me about redlining communities. We knew that there was a "right side of the tracks" and a "wrong side of the tracks," but nobody ever taught us that it was actually the government that set up those sides of the tracks and made it nearly impossible to make both sides of the tracks "right". This is a time for all of us to learn and grow. And in our growth, we can bring change. We can finally make things right. Please know that I am aware that there are black people that will still choose to make mistakes. I know that given the opportunity, some won't take the chance to make it. But I also know that those "chances" are rarely given. I know that there are no people group of any race, religion, nation, political side that hasn't made mistakes. But we must make a stand. We must fight together for the rights of all people. I want my children to grow up in a world that changed the course of history while they were alive. It starts with us. It starts today. What will you do to help?
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