Hate Must End

Once again we find ourselves and our country on the verge of chaos and what makes it even more painful is it could have been prevented.  The COVID-19 pandemic that cost many lives was an act of nature.  It is true that we could have handled the outbreak differently and we could have lessened the death toll by making different decisions.  With hindsight, we will always find mistakes.  The current crisis is significantly different.  Hate can be stopped, violence can be stopped, and vandalism can be stopped.   It can only happen if everyone, black and white, male and female, rich and poor, come together and say we will not tolerate this type of behavior. 

Discrimination Exists

Most people are not racists; they do not practice hate and are generally kind to others.  However, way too many people are blind to the problems that exist around them.  Just because you do not see discrimination in your everyday routine that does not mean it does not exist.  White people do not have to worry about being pulled over by police because they are driving through the wrong neighborhood.   When they see a car pulled over they just assume that someone was speeding or committed a crime.  In order to move forward we must open our eyes to what actually happens.  Every day small acts of prejudice occur, and we must do a better job of saying this is not acceptable.  To be successful, we must all unify and make it stop.  We must find a way to police the police.  That being said there are thousands of good police officers across the country and we must find a way to accept that.  Our goal needs to be fair and equal policing of the law.  If someone commits a crime they need to be punished.  Additionally, if a police officer abuses his power that is a crime and they must be held accountable.  Murder is murder, having a uniform does not change this.  In order to address this problem properly we all must change.  We all must realize that racism does exist and we all must commit to stopping it.

The Right Way

As we see more and more protests across the country we must remember that most of the people involved are peaceful who want action on an issue that should be address and taken seriously.  Part of what makes America great is our right to band together and make a statement.  If enough people want change it is bound to happen because a large group makes it happen.  That being said, peaceful protests need to remain peaceful.  We have all learned from a young age that two wrongs do not make a right.  What have the major headlines of the past week been?  Most of them have been about violence and crime.  This is a problem.  The headlines should be about how we can move forward to end this problem for good.  We must open a never ending dialogue of understanding and respect.  Decades ago Martin Luther King Jr. made a difference with words and through peace.   His life, and unfortunate death, was a step forward in race relations in the country but a solution was never actually obtained.  What we need is to continue to take steps forward.  We must continue to find peaceful ways to solve this problem and we need to make progress.  We need to teach our children that everyone, regardless of race and culture, are equal in the eyes of God.  This can be done, but only if we work together with one voice and as one people. 

Understanding

There are many reasons why hate exists.  Some people grow up with it, while others hate is fueled by person failures and a lack of basic understanding.  People are intimidated by what they do not understand.  Wars with great cost of lives are fought because one group thinks they are better then another.  No one person is better than another!  People are different and when we learn from our differences we become stronger.  There is no simple solution to the issues facing our nation, but we must start somewhere.  We must start by understanding how others feel; we must understand why these issues continue to happen; and we must find a way to open a positive dialogue.  Understanding what the problems and issues are is the first step in coming up with a solution.

Solution

If there was a simple solution we wouldn’t have a problem.  We need police to enforce the law, but we need to ensure they are fair.  How do we get rid of the outliers who use their power to spread hate and fear?  Clearly the current way of overseeing our nation’s police force is not working.  Do we invest in more oversight?  Do we ensure that the oversight committees represent people from every demographic and every culture?   Would this solution even work?  What is certain is we need a better way.  We need a way for everyone to feel safe everywhere regardless of skin color.  We need a way for people to live together in peace.   The only thing that is certain is our generation has a long struggle in front of us.  We must meet this challenge head on and settle for nothing less than justice, equality, and basic rights for all of mankind.  Anything less is a failure.