It's been awhile since I've stepped on my soapbox so let me spend some time up there this afternoon. In case, you don't watch the news, a man about my age was killed by a police officer in Minnesota a few weeks ago. The man was black, the officer white. It has outraged tens of thousands of people and has once again brought division to our nation. Terms like "systematic racism" are being thrown around on a daily basis. People are getting fired for supporting police officers. Sports teams are once again telling players and participants that it's ok to kneel during the national anthem. A country music group is changing their name because the word "Antebellum" is racist and offensive, according to them. And the latest? A kids' carton, Paw Patrol, is losing one of its main characters because liberals are in an outrage that kids are being taught that there are nice, decent cops in the world. (Just typing this sentence gets my blood boiling!)
First of all, there are good people and bad people in this world. There are good black people and evil white people and vice versa. There are good cops and there are bad cops. There are good teachers and their are bad teachers. I can go on and on about every profession, every race, every nationality, etc but you get the point. What was done to George Floyd was despicable. He had no right to die a slow, very public death at the hands of that evil police officer. Quite honestly, I hope that officer gets the punishment he deserves for his actions. But one person can't define an entire profession. Last Fall, a local middle school teacher and her police officer husband committed some heinous crimes to children. Crimes that had me crying myself to sleep. But, thank God, my teaching profession was not thrown under the bus because of one evil person. The main stream media likes to hype up the controversy, point fingers and then play the "nice guy" role, causing unnecessary friction in society.
I can't wrap my head around why people have deemed all police officers as horrific people because of a few really bad ones. I can't imagine that a person whose child is kidnapped thinks the police are evil when they find the person's child. I can't imagine how people think the police that risked their lives to stop terrorist acts are evil. I can't imagine how people can think that a police officer who helps a stranded motorist late at night is evil. The police officers I've been honored to know are good, honest people. I have only had a run in with one officer and it was on a personal level when I taught his son. (I am 99.9% sure that after the fact he realized his son had lied and was in the wrong but I never received an apology. So who knows?)
Second, why is okay to defund police departments (That should be interesting for crime rates!) while looters and rioters walk away without any fines for the damage they've caused? 2020 has been a rough year for a lot of small business owners- first COVID-19 and then looters literally destroying their business. One business owner broke my heart with his story that I saw. He was an older, black man who looked to be close to retirement age. He was distraught about why, as a black man, he was a victim of the looters and rioters. He had just re-opened his business after having to stay closed for several months due to COVID-19. But, within a week of re-opening, the looters completely destroyed his business, wiping out his life savings. How can evil like that get so much media attention when it's so wrong? (And why is it okay to gets hundreds to protest but businesses are still at limited capacity due to COVID restrictions? Another blog for another day I guess.)
Third, why are so many people jumping on the "Systematic Racism" bandwagon? The Golden Rule is treat others as you would have them treat you. Despite trying to shelter our boys from the evil in the world, our oldest saw a clip of George Floyd dying with an officer's knee pressing down on his neck. He was very troubled by what he saw, which led us to having a conversation about right vs wrong. I told him that it was not okay for that officer to treat Mr. Floyd the way he did. But I also told him that you need to treat others with respect no matter what color their skin is, or what language they speak or how they look. EVERYONE deserves respect, including police officers. So, I can't jump on the Black Lives Matter movement because, to me, EVERY life matters.
Here's the thing: I don't know, nor will I ever know, what it's like to be a black person. That's not how God chose to create me. I will never know the oppression they face. I will never understand their fear of police officers. I do know that a lot of people choose to make it in this world despite their circumstances. I do know that a lot of people know right from wrong. I do know that a lot of people don't label others based on people's looks, race, nationality. And I do know I have hope that this world will get better. I've been reading the Old Testament a lot the past few months and I am appalled at how people were treated during those times. Innocent men beheaded or stoned. Others set up so they could be sentenced to death. But, here we are, thousands of years later and civilization still exists. Albeit, not harmoniously, but we're here. So that counts for something. And I'll keep praying that sooner or later we'll ALL start treating others how we want to be treated: with respect.
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