It’s been quite a week. I don’t think anyone would have imagined that a senseless death on a Minneapolis street would have been the catalyst for a fast spreading national unrest. I woke up this morning to the talking heads discussing looting in multiple US cities. I immediately understood that the dialogue about looting was meant to distract people from the real story. The real story is the unraveling of a carefully crafted story about who and what America is.
Yesterday the guy who coined MAGA held a press conference to tell the world how he was going to deal with China. When he had delivered his China talking points, he immediately ended the presser without taking a single question about what was happening in America. He was prepared to talk about George Floyd and what his death meant to America. He wasn’t prepared to offer any comments for how he was going to lead the nation out of this turmoil. He wasn’t prepared to lead.
It’s easy to point out the looting and social disruption and condemn it. Condemnation however does not address the underlying frustration or hurt that got us here. If you boil water under pressure long enough it creates steam. If there is no release valve for that steam it blows up. Even with all the warning signs that we have had America still ignored the buildup and now it looks like the blowup is upon us. We Have spent 400 years sowing the seeds of racial oppression and now we are reaping the whirlwind.
People are saying why now? Frustration builds and Americas black, brown, yellow, and red people have grown tired of being the scapegoat for Americas short comings. The lie that if you work hard enough you will be integrated into the fabric of the country as become bitter fruit. The deaths of Vincent Chin, George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland and countless other people who were not white have shown America for the great lie that she is.
I’m the father of a 37-year-old son. A son who as never been in trouble. An accomplished man and I fear for his life every day. I fear that some white man will not see him for the man that he is. They will see him as some caricature of what they think every black man is supposed to be.
I can still remember the first time my son came home after being treated like he was not worthy of respect. He was twelve years old. He and a friend had been coming home from the track field at school. It was dusk and they were stopped by a police officer. They were given the third degree about where they lived and what they were doing. They were upset because they were put into the police car and driven home because the police officer didn’t believe they really lived here. I can’t begin to explain my frustration and rage at having my child being treated like that. Having to explain to him that this was the beginning of a new norm that he would have to be prepared for was painful for me. Twenty-five years later things have not changed. I still have to worry about whether someone will harm my son based upon the complexion of his skin.
The real story about what’s happening in Minneapolis, Atlanta, San Jose and countless other American cities is not the looting or civil disobedience. The real story is the American history that got us to this dark place.
THINK!!
EYES WIDE OPEN!!!