This is an angry post.
I am currently reading While the World Watched by Carolyn Maull Mckinstry and I am shaking with disgust. I am reading the accounts from the Baptist church bombing on Sept 15, 1963 and the racial injustices and segregation is unbearable. How can anyone hate another person or a group of people so much? How can someone take their hate to a level where they have the ability to harm innocent people. Innocent girls were murdered that day and no justice was brought forth expeditiously. The racial separation and privilege made it so that bombings were regular occurrences and the perpetrators didn’t fear the law. People were literally getting away with murder! This is our American history! The black community was so fearful of going against the ridiculous laws; not because they feared going to jail for breaking laws or feared losing their job but out of fear for their lives and their family’s lives. No one should fear for their life, especially in situations where they are completing innocent tasks. No one should fear walking down the street alone. No one should fear being home alone. No one should fear opening their door. No one should fear answering the phone. No one should fear attending religious services. No one should live in fear for being themselves.
It fails me every time I try to understand the psyche of a person who believes their life is worth more than another and that the other person doesn’t deserve to live. Then there is the aspect of law authority. If you are in charge of making or upholding laws, one of your greatest ability should be remaining unbiased. Lawmakers should be blind to stereotypes and personal beliefs and make decisions based on the good of all people. I find it sad that I need to say “all” people. Why is there a separation anyway? We are all human beings and all races have their good, bad and ugly individuals. We are all different; no better or worse than the next. My question to a person who thinks their race is better: “What makes your race better?” Inventions, advancements? There are inventors, scientist, etc of every race. Skin tone? Ummm, some races range in skin tone and at the same time mixing races actually create the most beautiful skin tones. Intelligence? Not based on race. Culture? wrong again. Now a days, some things are unrecognizable by culture because of cultural blending. The only thing I see that makes one race “better” than another is history. Painful history of oppression and superiority gives the illusion that one is better than the other but if the oppressed was erased, where would you be?
I can’t help feeling the commonality between 1963 and now. Instead of church bombings, there are school shootings. I watch videos of the presidential rallies and I see and hear the hateful things from some supporters of Trump and I can’t help shake the feeling that laws may have changed (still not there yet!) but the feelings of people have not and may never change. Trump allows this because of his superior and privileged demeanor but in doing this, he empowers hate filled people to reveal themselves to be no different than the individual(s) that bombed that Baptist church in 1963.
I am sad. Completely sad because there are very few places on Earth that has not been touched by hate and ignorance. So many people are benefiting from hate while others suffer for no reason. So many people have the power to change the world but lack the bravery to put others first.
No matter how much time has passed, we have not advanced past hate and injustice… we are frozen in time. When will people realize we are all the same — human? Ignorance is what makes you less; Tolerance makes us equal. We all need to learn to love one another and greet each other in peace.
PEACE.
*image courtesy of google image search.
Look Within 
