As I’ve let the events of the past few days sink in, I’ve been trying to get a grip on my thoughts and emotions. Sunday is a day that I set aside for worship and reflection. Today, thoughts of Georg Floyd’s death and the events that have followed have been foremost in my mind. I’ve been feeling kind of lost in the midst of what’s happened. The deaths of people like George Floyd at the hands of police officers are outrageous. It’s something that should obviously be met with outrage and sorrow. That anger at men and women who treat members of the black community as inferior is something that is hard to know what to do with. I feel like I want to do something, to make people see how obviously wrong their view of the world is. I’ve had times in my life when I’ve wished I could collect my knowledge and beliefs in a syringe and inject them into someone, just so they could understand why I was so desperate to get a point across. Obviously, that doesn’t work. You can’t make someone have empathy.
When people fail to see things the way I do, the temptation is to respond with anger, but the more I observe attempts at telling people who are firmly planted in a particular mindset to change, the more I realize that simply telling people the way things should be doesn’t work. Acting or speaking in outrage tends to polarize groups of people even more than they already have been. In the case of extreme racism and hate, I’m at least glad to see that the response to it seems to be one-sided. Then again, if the general population was as anti racist as they seem to be at times like this, the occurrence of events like George Floyd’s death would be far less frequent.
The whole situation is just so frustrating. I’m furious that such despicable things continue to happen, but as a white man, I feel self-conscious about my anger. Ridiculous or not, I feel like I’m intruding on what should rightfully belong to black people; like the fact that I’m angry somehow diminishes the validity of their anger. It makes no logical sense, but thoughts and feelings aren’t always rational. Racism itself is irrational. Most people have a tendency toward racism in one form or another, no matter their race or upbringing. I was raised on Mr. Rogers and scripture by parents who never for a single moment showed any kind of prejudice toward anyone of another color, but I’m sure I’ve made assumptions or snap judgments based on race. That isn’t really something that’s entirely relevant to what I’m trying to say here, but it’s a part of the maelstrom of thoughts that I’ve had today, so I wanted to include it.
My heart goes out to anyone who has been persecuted for their race, religion, beliefs, life-choices, or for any other reason. I feel particular anguish for my black friends and every other black man, woman, or child who has to endure the seemingly relentless onslaught of injustice and inequality that has followed them and their ancestors for generations.
I debated posting this, as I debate posting anything really meaningful to me. I don’t feel like my circle of influence is very large and question whether or not people will read any of my posts, so I tend to stick to memes, artwork, and pictures of my family. I may not be able to make any sort of meaningful difference in how the world operates or how people treat and see each other, but like I said before, I feel the need to do something. Simply putting my thoughts to words may not be much, but at least it’s something. I truly hope that one day the world will be free from hate. I believe that God has plans in place to accomplish just such a thing and pray that the day comes quickly when Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, comes in glory to reign as king.
God bless you all. I love you.