Arrested: a black child because he was riding in the car with his white grandmother.
Killed: in his own home because a white police-woman felt it was privilege to kill first and ask questions later.
Denied: the opportunity for a balanced, fair and unbiased game because she was perceived as “the angry black woman”.
Demonized: and vilified for taking a knee in silent protest of racist behavior and attitudes towards his people.
It breaks my heart to see such racial hatred in our country. I’m 51 years old. Racism is as thick and insidious as when my mother was a child. These people who allow bias, discrimination and fear stop them from being compassionate, loving, kind and NORMAL people are literally SICK with a spiritual disease. The infection is contagious and it’s all based upon racial stereotypes instilled in them by their elders. It is reinforced by slanted media representation, and is condoned by friendship and camaraderie. This sickness is not eliminated because the carrier refuses to confront their own diseased condition. They won’t listen. They won’t learn. They won’t try to understand. They hold onto their racist views like cancer… It will take surgery and chemo to get it out.
Racism in the Americas, born in Europe, was invented to keep people of color subjugated to slavery, discriminatory acts and injustice. Racism was continued and justified to keep racist white people feeling superior and less guilty for the crimes against humanity they have perpetrated. There is absolutely and conclusively no evidence to prove that blacks, Africans, colored people, descendants of Cush, are inferior intellectually, spiritually, emotionally or morally. There is no proof of the white man’s superiority of race. In my opinion, the fact that they (racists of all nationalities and genders) resort to intimidation, fear tactics, whining, name-calling, violence and even murder to “prove” their superiority exemplifies the very reason why they are NOT superior. I am in no way saying that Black people, people of color around the world are superior or greater in any way. What I am saying is the facts that vast segments of American society who cannot and will not accept that people of color are valuable, extraordinary and EQUAL in all ways makes THEM SICK.
As a Black woman of faith in one of the greatest countries on Earth, it is a challenge to love my enemy who insists that I am inferior, angry, unintelligent, faithless and ugly. It is a daily struggle to forgive and pray for those who call me nigger b***** and scream “TRUMP TRUMP” in my face because I had the nerve to walk into Hobby Lobby before they did. I’ve had more racially charged incidents in my life happen in the North and in the Air (as flight attendant; from customers and coworkers alike) than I ever did in the South. Confederate Flag wavers aside, I feel more comfortable as a black woman in Yazoo City, Mississippi than I do in Orland Park, Illinois. Chicago, Illinois is one of the most segregated, and racist I might add, cities in the United States. Don’t believe me? Try driving while black in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood after dark. I am sure it is only because of my faith in Jesus Christ that I have sanity, peace and a love for people who hate me simply because of the color of my skin.
I feel for my people who endure racism, discrimination and bias on a daily basis. On the job, at school, in the store, driving, even being in your home can’t isolate you from the pervasiveness of insidious racist behavior. Black men are an endangered species in America. It doesn’t matter your level of education or lack thereof, your income, status or address. There is a target on the backs, heads, chests and necks of Black men. Black women and children are traumatized by discrimination routinely. The toll upon our society is terrifying and lasting. There are studies that suggest the very dna of black people in America has been altered because of the constant and unrelenting racism we face everyday. Every. Day. E V E R Y DAY. I also feel deeply sorry for white, Latinos of European descent and certain Asian and Middle Eastern people who sincerely and emphatically believe they are superior in birth, rights and morality simply because of the color of their skin. It is definitely NOT my responsibility to convince them of their racism. That onus lays completely at their own feet. However, I can tell them how I feel a sense of pity, sadness and yes, even sometimes anger towards them. How can you burn your shoes simply because a man and the company that backs him believe in SILENT AND HONORABLE PROTEST? (Which by the way is how soldiers honor their fallen brothers and sisters in combat.) Are you angry because somebody told you it was about the flag? OR are you angry because you don’t want anyone to confront you with the truth that your people have cause harm to other people? Do you insist on making black women out to be “angry and bitter” because that’s what you sincerely believe? Or are you projecting your feelings of angst toward them because you cannot handle the strength and beauty of a Black women’s light? Are you really that afraid of Black men and what they are capable of doing with nothing? Or are you afraid that Black men will rise up and do to white men what they did to the approximately 6 to 7 MILLION Africans that were sold into slavery during the 1800’s alone? I’m inclined to believe the latter. I believe the discrimination, bias and racism that these people exhibit are really the symptom of the fear they have that what their ancestors did to others will happen to them. Why else are they so deathly afraid of becoming a “minority” in America?
Racism in America and around the world is a deadly disease. Many would believe it’s only dangerous to those who are targeted by this horrible virus. Reality, however shows that the racist is the one who will be destroyed in the end. All these so-called “Christian Evangelicals” and others who use the Bible as a tool of hate and destruction have obviously never read the same versions that I have. They use scripture to justify subjection, slavery and inferiority. But the Bible I’ve read says, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (I Sam. 16:7) and “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.” (Acts 17:26) and “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.” (Col 3:25) and “have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:4) AND “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” (Rev. 7:9) I’m so GLAD my Jesus, who was born a JEW by the way, does NOT CARE THAT I AM ENCASED IN AN EARTHSUIT MADE OF BLACK SKIN. He has looked at my heart and loved me. The real me. The me He designed, created, formed and placed upon the Earth to glorify Him and build His Kingdom. Discrimination, bias and my people’s burden of institutionalized racism will not stop me from being all He has called me to be. But it sure makes me sad that it will stop them from doing the same.
Racism is a disease. Jesus is the Cure.
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