Racism at the Park-N-Ride
Today (yesterday actually), I was having a socially distanced conversation with a good friend at a park-n-ride in Newtown CT. Suddenly, a car full of assholes goes by, shouting racial slurs aimed at the yarmulke wearing jews across the parking lot. On their Sabbath.
Racial hatred in the real white American suburbs is too fucking real, I thought to myself, as my friend found himself apologizing to the nearby travelers for no real reason, other than to show support. To let them know he was horrified. They NEEDED to know.
They said they were used to it.
I was now even more horrified.
Of course I knew there was still racism in America. What I didn’t know is how far we have yet to come to put it in our rear view. That’s pretty clear these days. Once upon a time I thought we were almost there. We are SO NOT almost there, and things are now getting worse. Much worse.
Thanks to Trumpian enabling from his bully pulpit, and make no mistake, Donald Jackoff Trump is a bully…Thanks to his reliance on public hate speech and polarizing rhetoric, regular Americans now feel empowered by this presidential bad example, to become their very worst selves. Anger and hatred that used to be hidden, are exploding in our faces. Violence and hate speech towards minorities of race, faith and gender. It’s sad, and disgraceful. Horrifying.
We ALL need to apologize. Because it’s all of our fault. The years of not saying “we’re horrified” EVERY SINGLE TIME we saw it…the tacit approval…has made it worse, not better.
It’s time we all stop being horrified inside…let it out. Out LOUD. Let them KNOW that racism is not patriotic and hatred is not American.
Diversity and immigration make us stronger. Working together makes us better. Becoming better humans is what America is REALLY about.
American exceptionalism doesn’t have to be a lie, IF it is based on us actually being exceptional, not just trying to get people to believe that we are. Being ‘Exceptional’ is a big BIG job. It means educating every child with the BEST education. Exceptional means having the BEST healthcare for EVERY American, not just the rich white ones. In a truly exceptional America, no one would be going hungry or homeless before the first American had a billion dollars in their checking account.
An actual more perfect union would be exceptional too. Our founders gave us the building blocks to create it, but we have to choose to overcome our short-sighted human nature, and adapt it to the tasks at hand. That’s the true beauty of our government…that ability to change. Adapt.
Are we doing that? Nope. Instead, we’re somehow still fighting the Civil War, 150 years after the good guys supposedly won. Shit is getting bad…if you haven’t noticed. Our melting pot is on the edge of melting down because, after all this time we STILL haven’t done what we said we would do.
Liberty and Justice for ALL. Rich white people generally get to ‘pursue happiness’ but most regular Americans just pursue survival and next months rent.
So, now I get that white people are a little afraid. I mean…We’ve been complete fucking assholes for 300 years or more, so we probably should be afraid. Yet, I think there’s a safe way out. An actual easy answer: Just Change Things. Fix it. Do something for REALZ, and nobody gets hurt. We ALL win. White, black, brown, gay, straight, religious, atheist…ALL of us.
Because Jewish lives matter. Black lives matter. Every Life Matters. And Yes…Police lives matter very much. Most cops are brave and awesome souls. They may just need to be a little braver right now.
Our police officers need to be brave enough to be horrified too, and horrified enough that the blue wall of silence doesn’t matter. That racial justice and harmony matter more to ALL of us, than silence to protect a few haters with badges.
We can..no, we MUST choose to decide that all of us are in this together. That we are ONE America, not Two. We are The UNITED States of America, and anyone who would seek to divide us is not worthy of being an American, much less the Office of The President.
Please #VOTE
~jg #america #TwoAmericas #BLM
Just Thinking ~ Thoughts on music, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…and other less political stuffs.
by Jamie Gray
2020-08-29T19:07:40.000Z