A Hug Emoji is Not Enough!

Once again, I am up late, night owl that I am, and I have been running through all kinds of posts on social media, tonight mostly Instagram. As you can imagine, most people's feeds and stories are filled with posts about George Floyd, and the protests and riots that have resulted from him being murdered by a white policeman. I have waited a while to write about this, because I truthfully do not know what to say. Here's the sad thing. This is nothing new. I remember sitting in my apartment in September of 1992, 9 months pregnant with my first child, watching the riots being filmed and broadcast after the Rodney King verdict was released. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I was born in 1963, so I lived through the civil rights movement, but I was really to young to realize what was going on around me. 1992 was really the first time I saw what was going on with my own two eyes. It was so scary to me. I watched film footage of two black men going up to the cab of an 18-wheeler, opening the door and pulling the white driver out and beating him with baseball bats. I was shocked. I remember thinking, "I'm glad that's not here." But you know what else I did?...NOTHING. That was the first real event involving race that I really remember. Fast forward to 2012, and the murder of Trayvon Martin. Oh, you'll be so proud of me. I posted on Facebook about his death. I changed my profile picture to his image. I even wrote a blog post about what I thought when the verdict came down. You know what else I did?....NOTHING. Then I watched the video posted of the policeman who shot and murdered Philando Castile in 2017 (ironically also in Minnesota). This time I was very distraught. I truthfully could not believe what I was seeing. I wrote a blog post then, too. Don't worry. This one even had a tone of anger and outrage! I try to look at things logically. I try to see both sides. There is nothing worse than blabbing on and on when you don't know what you're talking about. In my opinion, you do more harm to the cause than good. This was the first time, and I am ashamed to say it, that I really saw what I didn't want to see. I didn't want to believe that this was happening. So you know what else I did?....NOTHING. I have scrolled through Facebook, and I have seen posts from my black friends and colleagues about how much they are hurting, and I started to hover, and use the "Hug Emoji, " and then I thought to myself, "Are you kidding?!? A hug Emoji? It's so trite! It's meaningless. I cannot even pretend to know what is going through any black person's mind right now, and trying to pretend that I know or can feel what they are going through is just BULLSHIT! It's not about me! I'm white. And this has nothing to do with guilt. I'm not apologizing for being white. I can't change the color of my skin anymore than a black person can change the color of theirs. What I am saying, and please hear me. I have no idea what it is like to be you. I would not even begin to say I can relate. I cannot. But I know that this cannot go on, and it needs to stop, and I want to be part of the solution, not the problem. Something has got to change. Do you know why there is a hashtag and phrasing everywhere that says black lives matter? It's because over and over this nation has proven that they don't. Sorry, plain and simple. I don't have to say white lives matter because I have never been shown that they don't. When I began this post, I looked up whether the officer who murdered Philando Castile was convicted. He wasn't. I cannot believe that any jury member who watched that video could have done anything else but convict. When I was raising my girls, and they would do something to hurt my feelings, or each others, they would always say they were sorry. My response to them was. Don't tell me you're sorry. Words mean nothing. Show me you're sorry. Change your behavior so I know that your words mean something. We can hug emoji, and hashtag all we want. We can post and say how outraged we are, and it means NOTHING! unless we change the way we act. No Justice! No Peace! Know justice! Know peace!

There's a Difference Between Vengeance and Justice

In the last 6 months 2 people that I know have gone through situations where someone has done something against them that is the very definition of injustice. I am not going to divulge details as I don't want to expose either of them as they are friends. Both are very devout Christians. I mention that fact not to say that Christians don't deserve anything bad happening to them or they shouldn't suffer or they should have special treatment. I mention that becuase I want to address the way both have reacted to their situations. In both of these instances and events in these people's lives, they, by every reasonable standard have been wronged. They are unquestionably in the right! There is no gray in either of these situations, but both have decided not to seek justice. They are leaving it "up to God." Now, I realize that I am stepping in a steaming pot of hot water right now, but I am puzzled by their actions. I am not presuming that God does not know what's best in either situation. I'm sure He does, but I also believe in a God that does not expect us, as His followers, to roll over and play dead waiting for Him to swoop in and claim justice. If someone has done wrong, they deserve punishment. We as humans need to abide by laws and rules, whether they are actual laws on the books or moral laws that decent human beings need to follow so that we can live in a civilized world. Yes, I know, "Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord!" But simply seeking restitution or requesting that the offending party do what is right is NOT VENGEANCE! Why do we allow someone to cause us harm or distress or leave us in a terrible situation claiming that God will take care of it. Maybe the way God wants to take care of it is to give us the strength and wisdom to take care of it. I will use myself as an example. When I and my two children were left penniless, and I do mean absolutely no money or job or even a car when my ex-husband decided to leave, I did not sit and say God will take care of this and do nothing. I couldn't! Somehow I needed to find a way for my children to eat and have shelter and care. I went after what was right and just. God certainly helped by providing me with a lawyer who took my case without charging me a cent. If I had not taken any action, I shudder to think what would have become of the three of us. What I did was not an act of vengeance. Vengeance would have been if I sought him out to do him harm. I went after justice. People should be made to do what is right. If not, where is the lesson in that? What consequences are suffered? We teach our children from a very young age right from wrong and that when we do something to others, we need to make it right. We do not let our children grab a toy from another child and as that child is crying say "God will take care of it." God is not going to reach His hand down and give that toy back to the child who had it first. If we do not intervene, child 1 is left crying and child 2 goes on believing that what they did was fine. Why do we suddenly forsake those rules as we become adults? Why is no one held accountable for their wrongdoing? Call me crazy, but I don't believe that Christianity is a "doormat" faith. I think my faith is an active one, and I will continue to pray for guidance and help to do what is right whether it be for me or someone else. I don't believe that God wants me to be some crazed vigilante, but I do not believe that He wants me to let people go and stand idly by while they do an injustice to me or someone else.

Who Was That Masked Man?

Wow! It's been a really long time since I've posted! Part of the reason for that is I was involved in a production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" that just closed. It was a wonderful experience as the story has always been one of my favorites. I've seen the movie several times, but doing the stage production really made me explore some different sides to issues raised in the story. One question that came up particularly interested me. Each Friday night after the show we would have a talkback. For those who don't know or have never participated in one, a talkback is a time set aside after the show for the cast to answer questions from the audience. Because of the legal nature of the show, many times our moderator was someone from the world of law. Our moderator on this specific evening was a judge from juvenile court. SPOILER ALERT!! She posed the question that with Atticus Finch having so much legal integrity, why was he willing to participate in a cover-up in regards to the death of Bob Ewell? If you've never seen or read the story, Bob Ewell, the town pariah and general despicable human being, and a white man, has accused a black man, falsely, of raping his daughter in order to keep the real truth from coming out that she hugged and kissed  this man after inviting him into their home under the pretense of helping her with a chore. Atticus is appointed to defend the Negro, and even though he knows he is fighting a losing battle, the truth comes out in court. In retaliation Ewell goes after the Finch children one night with intent to harm them and very likely kill them. The town recluse and resident "crazy", Boo Radley, comes on the scene and stabs Bob Ewell with a kitchen knife and kills him. Upon the sheriff discovering the body, he tells Atticus that, "Bob Ewell fell on his knife." As sheriff, it is his decision how to handle the situation. Atticus doesn't challenge the sheriff, and the story ends with no one knowing the act of Boo Radley and he is left to live out his reclusive days in peace. So... did Boo Radley murder Bob Ewell? Was it a cover-up? Read the book or see the movie or play and draw your own conclusions, but my feeling is NO! In my opinion Boo was more a hero or guardian angel for the Finch children that night. If he had not shown up when he did, most certainly Bob Ewell would have killed them.  If you've ever seen any of the old Lone Ranger TV shows, he always rode in on his horse, Silver, saved the day, and then disappeared into the dust of the West without praise or adulation, leaving all to question, "Who was that masked man?" Boo Radley was Maycomb County's Lone Ranger for one night when he was needed the most and then never to be seen or heard from again. "High Ho, Silver and away, Boo!"