May 31, 2020

When Colin Kaepernick first sat then took a knee during the national anthem the reactions were immediate. Kaepernick and other athletes using a quiet way of bringing attention to the problem of racial inequality were blasted for being unAmerican. Things did not change and frustration grew. More persons of color killed. Falsely accused. Detained and thrown to the ground. Self proclaimed 'protectors' gun down teens just walking home from the store or a jogger.

I was thinking and sorting through all the events over the past years. Persons of color live with the feeling of a target on their backs being judged by some on the skin color alone. One of our son's friends from high school is married to a police officer. He wrote a moving account of his experience last night during the protests in city where he serves. He was cursed at and spat on because of his uniform, his 'skin' so to speak at the time. It was beyond hard for him. He was frustrated. He worked hard to maintain his professionalism and duty.

That feeling right there is what persons of color face E V E R Y D A Y. They can't go home and change their clothes/skins. The target remains and the institution of power does not change. Frustration and fear in the pressure cooker of no change has exploded once again. It is an indictment on the broken contracts of society.

When I told Hubby about my thoughts he asked what are contracts of society. I explained it the way Trevor Noah had in a recent You Tube video. The contract are simple things like taking turns at four way stops. Not yelling fire in a theater. Not taking what does not belong to you. Merriam Webster has these definitions:

Definition of society (Entry 1 of 2)

1. companionship or association with one's fellows : friendly or intimate intercourse : COMPANY
2. a voluntary association of individuals for common ends especially : an organized group working together or periodically meeting because of common interests, beliefs, or profession
3. a: an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another b: a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests

Persons like to counter and say it is not like it was in the '50's. That is in part true. There are not longer separate restrooms, drinking fountains, and restaurants like in the '50's and '60's. The building in which I live is a rainbow of people. Our son's neighborhood is likewise. Yet there is still harassment of black men just driving down the streets. Professionals being harassed just because it can be done without punishment for the offending police. Bad apple police being tolerated by the good apples. That is the reality or George Floyd would still be alive.

Black people are killed in arrests 6 times as often as whites. That is a broken contract of society. We as a people and a nation had several chances to correct the system. Instead enough of society wanted things to be simple the way they were in the '50's that we did nothing. And now the price is being paid, in spades so to speak. Seems like taking a knee and calling out bad apples for the bullies they are would have been so much easier.

In prayer for our brothers and sisters of humanity,

Janice