America Is Not An Easy Place.
No, it is not. The protests and unfortunate looting of many major cities across the United States have again stimulated discussion of race, police brutality, and disparities with the socio-economics of America. Like many of us, I was lucky enough not to grow up in a homogenized city and neighborhood. My schools and my teams were a mix of origin, race and religion. That does not make me any better than you or anyone else – my point is that I was socialized with people different than me at an early age. My dad was bias, not with race or religion, but people who were in one word disrespectful. He literally had zero time for people who lacked respect and he associated bigotry and racism with disrespect. The reality is that there are doctors who do not belong in healthcare; there are professors and teachers who do not belong in the world of academics; there are corporate executives who should not be running companies; there are politicians who do not belong in office; there are law enforcement officers who do not belong on a police force. America is not an easy place.
The list below is my top of mind reflection of words and people who have made America what it is today: a country of complex people. Empathy only goes so far. We all need to step up – not to discuss but to solve the problem.
George Floyd. The Tuskegee Airmen. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ku Klux Klan.
Richard Spencer. Colin Kaepernick. The Buffalo Soldiers. Muhammad Ali.
Gandhi. Selma. Colin Powell. Take A Knee. George Wallace. Drew Brees.
NAACP. Overtown. David Duke. Harry Truman’s Executive Order 9981.
Hazel Johnson-Brown. J.B. Stoner. Benjamin Davis, Sr. John Lewis.
36th Infantry of Harlem Hell Fighters. Desmond Tutu. Jesse Helms.
Ebenezer Baptist Church. Liberty City. Jackie Robinson. Harriet Tubman.
Samuel Gravely, Jr. Black Lives Matter. Arthur McDuffie. Dorie Miller.
Prince. Joe Lewis. Ahmaud Arbery. Thurgood Marshall. Jesse Owens.
Texas Western College. Eddie Robinson. Auschwitz. Hidden Figures.
That’s all I want to post this week. It’s my take, what is yours?
Adios, be safe, pay it forward, and have a great week!
What, no comment on the latest from Roger Goodell and the NFL’s “reversal” of opinion on player protests? I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Roger Goodell and the NFL are incredibly forthright with their charitable contributions. Roger Goodell not stepping up before he was “pressured” to do so by one young NFL employee is very surprising and very unfortunate.
Interesting how you entwined KKK, David Duke, Auschwitz, Drew Brees and a few others into the mix…how/why did you insert with others that are absolutely Black Anerican focused?
Good question. I thought of people and words that in my opinion have made and do make America complex. The words Auschwitz and David Duke and Drew Brees have no direction correlation but a common thread of ignorance, disrespect, bigotry, and hatred.