In my lifetime I have witnessed and been affected by different types of discrimination.
Discrimination doesn't have a color, or a race because we can be just as discriminative towards those who are larger than the average, smaller than the average, smokers, disabled etc. I've seen so many types of misunderstanding or ignorance. Recent events brought to my mind and heart a need to speak MY mind and exercise MY right to free speech.
My heart hurts at what has been happening in Baltimore and at Boston University. Racism has no color, to assume that someone can not be racist because they're black, white, Chinese, Japanese etc simply is not true. Anyone can be racist, anyone can be full of hate against one or another or multiple races. The atrocities committed against one another in Baltimore are hate filled and hate fueled. To try and explain them away as "frustrated" people acting out is severely skewed thinking. I'm frustrated a LOT, I'm mad a LOT at how we treat one another, at how we disrespect one another, our nation, other people's beliefs and rights. I'm downright PISSED to think there's only ONE northern white rhinoceros male left in the world because they've been hunted to extinction for black market "superstitious" fueled "remedies". I'm ANGRY that we've been given a world full of miracles and wonders to care for, created by a God that wanted to thrill us every day with so many wonderful things to behold, and we poop all over it. I'm angry and sad because there are people attempting to hunt whales to extinction right now. I'm sad because we've been given a world to care for and we're killing it. But guess what? As ANGRY, FRUSTRATED, or sad as I may be about these things, I don't go around looting and burning other people's businesses, homes or taking violent actions against others because they're a different "race" than me. I'm a human, from the human race....guess what, you are too! I love you because GOD created you to be unique and brought you into MY LIFE so I might learn what lessons you have to teach me. My father taught us that every person is worthy of our love and our time for just those reasons and I love him for teaching me that.
I don't care what you look like. I don't care what you wear, or what designer you do or don't follow religiously. I don't care what size you are, or what your personal habits are, though I may not choose to live that way in my own life. I don't care who you do or don't have sex with. The fact is, that if you are in my life, you're there because you are meant to be there and I love you. I may not like what you do sometimes, and I may have different personal values, but guess what? I don't judge you because I have NO right to do so since I'm not an omnipotent being. And I don't expect to be judged by you either.
My heart hurts because #SaidaGrundy has made some generalized statements about race/gender and refuses to recognize that this is in fact a sign of racism. It doesn't matter if you're black, you can still be racist and to believe otherwise JUST because of the color of your skin is of itself a racist notion. I cried when I saw the statement she made about not going to "white businesses" to honor Martin Luther King.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/11/students-split-over-racist-bu-professor-as-university-walks-the-line/. I cried because this is NOT what Martin Luther King stood for. He didn't say, we need equality so we can bias ourselves against the white man. He SAID I have a dream that we will ALL be equal, that white/black won't have lines separating them, because we will know you are my sister/brother. You are created by GOD who gave you to ME and me to YOU as a member of a GREATER family. My words are not his words, but are my interpretation OF Martin Luther King's words. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm Here are his words in total. It's a dishonor to remember this great man through bias and self segregation or boycott based on race. What would honor him would be me and YOU, whatever color you may be, going into the world as friends to remind everyone that his words were one of hope that we can all be friends. That we wouldn't act in violence like those in Baltimore, but rather act in love towards one another. We don't choose what color of skin we're born with, but we can choose how we live our lives in whatever skin we're given. Male or female, black or white, Asian or Latino it shouldn't matter. We're all a part of a greater whole. Martin Luther King's speech primarily spoke about black and white, and I know during that time there were other lines drawn out for different races such as Asian, Latino etc. Then again he spoke about "Man/Men", which oddly enough, those other than white as males were given the vote and freedoms not enjoyed by women of any color until later. BUT I KNOW he didn't mean give men freedom and withhold it from women, I KNOW he meant MAN/MEN in the mankind sense, including ALL God's children.
Unfortunately, segregation, discrimination etc is NOT uniquely known or tied to the U.S. but history has repeated itself over and over in many cultures throughout the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation Ms. Grundy was incorrect in her assumption that slavery was only an "inherited" condition in the U.S. as illustrated by examples in antiquity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_antiquity see, the entry marked Egypt for example. Granted this doesn't mean that I condone slavery, because in my family's personal history passed down to me from my father, we believe now and in the past, what the Bible states about how we should treat others, and it does state that you shouldn't hold others in bondage......don't believe me....look it up. History keeps repeating itself and we must be horrible creatures of habit, because we always seem to find some or another type of person or thing to be discriminatory about. Sad but true, and it makes my heart hurt to see it.
It seems to be common to think that racism is OK if it's against white people. It seems to be OK to be prejudice or discriminatory against people that are larger than the average and to assume that it's because they over eat. It seems to be OK to say it's not right to have personal moral values if someone holds to Christianity. It seems to be OK to assume that just because someone in a category doesn't agree with your lifestyle, life choices, sexuality etc that they're discriminatory. That assumption is far from true. I know people that believe firmly in the Bible, when it speaks on certain matters such as LGBT, but have people in their families that they love just like any other in their family. They don't discriminate against their family members and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to try and explain why they love their gay uncle so and so even though the Bible seems to tell them they should not like the way he lives his life. I can only imagine they feel torn between their personal love for God and their faith and their love for family members.
While looking up things to try and make sure that someone reading this can be fully informed, I did run across something of great interest. I found it among tweets regarding the above hash tag and if I had the honor to be friends with this woman I would have to give her a bear hug. She seems to be VERY intelligent, deep thinking and logical. I also found on her twitter account a link to her blog and got sidetracked a little bit reading it so I will probably be following it just because I like to read how she thinks things through. https://mobile.twitter.com/GOPBlackChick?p=s I put it here too in case anyone else was also interested.
Granted I do think freedom of speech includes allowing others the opinion that one or another group of people is not ok, even if it makes me sad to see people thinking that way. It's ok if you don't like me because I'm a woman, or straight, or white, or whatever other reason you choose to dislike me. I served my country and I, along with those who have done the same for eons past, fought and served our country to give that right to you.....you're welcome. In fact, while I was in the military I worked with a young man who told me on my first day at a new duty station that he didn't like white people, that we wouldn't be friends etc. I was a little sad to hear that from someone basing like/dislike on something so trivial, but I like to think that maybe I changed his mind a little bit, as he taught me a lot about life too. I sincerely hope that he and his family are doing well, wherever they may be. I also hope, that God put me in his life for a reason, and that he learned you can't judge someone just for the color of their skin but for what is inside their hearts.
I acknowledge Ms. Grundy's right to speak out on whatever it is in her heart. I know that she said what she said for whatever personal reasons she had. But what makes me sad is that her statement, like so many others before her of different colors, generalizes and focuses on one group. I would encourage her to open her heart and mind to see there is good and bad in every gender, race etc. One can't judge an entire race or gender by the actions of one, a few, or even sometimes many when there are many many MANY more that don't believe or live that way. In the Bible, when God wished to strike Sodom and Gomorrah to the ground, and destroy all and everyone within, even He relented when Abraham asked would You destroy the righteous with the wicked? There are righteous and wicked in EVERY group of people. You can't assume that everyone in whatever group is alike. All I can say is that wickedness must be a heck of a lot of fun, because it seems very easy to get people to follow if you want to do harm to someone else. People seem to find it to be a lot of fun to follow someone who willfully slanders others with the intent to harm, and though their hearts may tell them it's wrong to treat others this way, they hush it up and follow anyway.
This is the human condition that makes me sad, and I fear I won't see it change in my lifetime.
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