I started watching it because I kinda felt like I should. Subconscious "white guilt," maybe. I kept watching it because it was gripping.
This happened 50 years ago: men and women beaten, some killed, for marching peacefully to protest the fact that black people were not allowed to register to vote in Alabama despite their legal right to do so. Children were killed in their own church just for being black.
I feel like the only real difference today is that there are now millions more in our country who are outraged and saddened when they hear about racist violence (by civilians or police).
My brother is a police officer, and to me, he represents the vast majority of American officers who serve and protect honorably. I love him, respect him, and trust him. I am so thankful for his bravery and for those who have died in the line of duty, having made the ultimate sacrifice.
I feel like I need to say that here so that there's no confusion. I support #blacklivesmatter and I also very much support America's police forces.
Along the same lines, I loved the book The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. It's about a girl whose parents are slaveowners and she eventually becomes an abolitionist and a suffragist.
How is that along the same lines? you might ask. I guess I recommend this movie and this book to white people who are trying to figure out where they stand in today's civil rights climate. I used to wonder what I would have done if I had lived during the Underground Railroad, or during the civil rights movement. Maybe I still wonder. What would I have done? But I don't have to wonder that, because I can ask myself what will I do now?
What will I do now?
A few months ago (when I initially wrote but didn't publish this post) I listened to President Obama's speech at the police officers' memorial in Dallas. I also recommend that. He quoted the verses in the Bible about softening our hearts. I am still not sure what to do now, but I am working on softening mine.
2 comments:
There is so much to think about here. I remember moving back to California is 1979 and being appalled at the racism I encountered. There was not a lot of racism per se in Utah while we lived there - but there were not a lot of minorities either. Coming back to a very racially diverse community, I was so surprised - I thought, "We had the Civil Rights Movement. What happened??"
We really need to look inward - and outward - and acknowledge to ourselves, once and for all, that we are ALL children of God - and then act accordingly! Sounds a bit simple - but I believe many just cannot get over some very ingrained prejudices.
I hope this gets better in my lifetime!
If there were more moms like yours, then the world would be a better place
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