The contradiction of right and wrong when it comes to the President of the United States has confused the moral imperative we have to each other to just, do the right thing. When 10 children in a school or 50 people at an outdoor country music concert are gunned down, immediately the gun enthusiast start gun-splaining about the difference between an assault rifle and a semi-automatic weapon. Point out racism and sections of society will start telling you about the guy around the corner who once said, ‘I don’t like whitey.’ Say the President is a habitual liar and conservatives counter with, “you can keep your doctor.” A player kneeling at a football game, to protest people who look like most of them, being killed too regularly, and chapter and verse on the nuances of the 1st amendment, rule the discussion.
There is a sickness in this grab for excuses instead of culpability. Some things in life do not need technical explanation or legal rationale to explain right or wrong. The question is not always about how to adjudicate a problem, sometimes it is as simple as acknowledging it first. I would not now or ever, advocate abandoning our civic responsibility to follow the law, local or federal, but sometimes it would be nice to unite as a country behind something that is just right. It is sad that David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre, has to explain why he does not want to be shot on his way to chemistry class and the most important thing to the NRA or The Firearms Guide is to explain to him the differences in the weapon that may kill him. Should not the first gesture be, here is my helping hand young man, how can I make it available to you?
A few days ago, when Roseanne Barr pulled out an old racist trope, I have heard repeated more than once since I was a child, it started a debate in some quarters instead of disgust. The man who asked, “what the hell have you got to lose” asked for an apology for himself, instead of offering comfort and inclusion. I guess I am foolish to expect more, after all the same man built his reputation on lies, lies and more lies. A big part of how we make social change is by not accepting the un-social. Unfortunately, a knife is cutting through America and is reopening a hemorrhaging wound from America’s racist past.
When will this rampant tribalism be set aside to prevent the cutting into the fresh flesh of the next generation?
During the height of segregation black and white people could not even die together. The racism of white America was so pervasive Blacks were even discriminated against in death, there were white only cemeteries. There are some encouraging signs; when the two young black men, who were deemed suspicious because they asked to use the bathroom in a Starbucks, and the police were called, a young black woman and a young white woman’s cell phone video literally shouted out the injustice. I am sure Starbucks has rules for occupancy, and employee guidelines for customer service to non-paying customers. That being said, two women decided the rules ignored the moral difference between right and wrong and that was enough. I understand the incident has created a burgeoning friendship—between the two… maybe there is hope…
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