It was calming down and then BAM!

We get hit with a racial pandemic!

Here we are trying to navigate masks, social distancing, slow integration. All the new normals that have been imposed upon us and now the most heinous of prejudices “RACE.”

This, my friend, is no new occurrence. It’s the way we, the “other”, have lived all our lives. But the blatant disregard of life caught on film was all too much, and the dam broke. 

We broke. 

The weight of it all…was too much! 

The burden we carried of intolerance of our differences was finally laid at the feet of the offender!

As you can imagine, the world turned upside down. The world was required to come face to face with their biases.

They were confronted!

They were emotionally assaulted. 

They were exposed.

It was time to stop pretending we were all getting along. It was time to stop pretending we were moving up the ladder equally. It was time to stop pretending that my success was equal to your success. Racism is a great un-equalizer. 

So here we are.  

The idea that so many have struggled with the utterance of Black Lives Matter, and have suggested the All Lives Matters goes to the point…

  Because our lives haven’t mattered is why we have to remind you.  It is because you have dismissed us as “other,” “different,” “the exception” that we have had to go to the streets, social media, Congress, to wherever we can garner the attention we need to remind you that our LIVES MATTER! 

Stop thinking that we are criminals because our skins say so. Stop assuming that we are not capable because our skin might suggest so. Stop asking me if I understand, as if the color of my skin creates a barrier for comprehension. 

Stop it!

Breathe…and see that my life experience has never been like your white experience.  To suggest we should just try harder, do better…well…

By the mere fact that our skin enters the room first before we utter one word, we must always do better and try harder.

Racism is the real pandemic we are facing—inequality to healthcare; inequality in salary, education, housing are all limitations that have been placed and imposed on my skin color.  

So, as we navigate the viral pandemic, remember we are fighting a racial pandemic as well.

Treat my heart, mind, and soul with the same care that you have treated your heart, mind, and soul.  

The beautiful reality is we are all created in the image of God. 

He chose to add a bit more color to mine. 

And for that, I am thankful.

Lesson:  

Who have you offended? What can you do about it? Where have you lacked in understanding? Why did you lack understanding?  How can you live a life of understanding?

‘Til Tuesday