Disheartened…not only because of the events this week in the city I call home, but because of the heartless responses from people I have seen in the media, internet and in person. It is such a curious thing to me how people lack empathy. This is the very thing that can unite us as humans on this earth but we choose to stand in opposition to one another and not taking the time out to understand how one may be feeling. That being said, these are my thoughts: The black experience is the only one I know, so for those of you that cannot understand what it is like to be black in America or why some people seem to be so angry right now, let me give you a snapshot view. It’s great, inspiring, sad, tiresome, lonely, overwhelming, scary and so many other adjectives I cannot think of right now. It is walking into a store and having eyes fall on you and only you, it is having to explain to your 9 year old why a little girl in his class told him only Italian and Irish people can be ‘Christians’, it is understanding at 8 years old why a class mate tells you that her dad calls people like me ‘niggers’. It is sitting and smiling through uncomfortable racial jokes being made during a college party, it is altering your appearance so that you can ‘fit in’, or worse, being told to ‘tame your hair’, it is walking out of the home you own and having some neighbors look at you like ‘why are you here?’, it is conversations on altering your ethnic name so you can get job interviews, it is walking around thinking, ‘wait, am I somehow less of a person because of the color of my skin?’, it is dually one of the proudest and hardest experiences in my life. I cannot change me, so this will always be my experience while I am alive. I have accepted that and to be honest, I have always loved an underdog. That being said please understand that when people cry out over perceived injustices, when people show anger or frustration, it is a reflection of their hurtful experiences, some of which are much more intense than what I have described above. An experience that one should strive to understand rather than calling it ‘stupid’, saying it’s irrelevant, or calling people ‘animals’. It shows a lack of empathy that is truly frightening in our day and age. Everything is not always black and white (for lack of a better phrase). There are gray areas. I can absolutely respect authority and the role that police officers have in this great city that I love and STILL think what happened to Mr. Garner is wrong. I am sorry if that concept is too overwhelming and mind blowing for some people to grasp. It is possible that I love, appreciate and respect the daily danger that befalls many of our men and women in Blue and still believe that there are times when poor judgment has been exercised. I have some days when I have also exercised poor judgment. As a healthcare worker, watching that sad and depressing video of Mr. Garner’s last moments, I wanted to cry but most of all I wanted to give him CPR! I wanted to try and save him. So I couldn’t understand why NO ONE tried to help this man-whether or not he was a ‘criminal’. That being said, I will never like any post, article or news story that I feel is overtly one sided. I believe in Empathy, Love, Respect and Grace. My allegiance will always be with these attributes. These are the qualities I pray I am teaching my three sons daily, so that no matter what they have to endure in their lifetime-and they undoubtedly will endure something, they will always remember what is most important.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 12:43:28 +0000
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