First, I do believe that all the changes, challenges, trials, we are facing today are part of our world evolving and awakening to become a more loving, compassionate, sustainable world for all sentient beings (to me that means all living entities- people, animals, plants, bugs, the planet herself.)
I do post encouragement towards this goal on social media. However, that environment can be very volatile concerning racism and how unfair our country is to our black/brown skinned citizens. I have heard from many pale skinned people how they support the protests but cannot condone the violence that comes with them. While I don’t believe that violence is ever a path to peace, there is great historical experience that violence does get attention of those who might normally just assume the “problems” will go away.
I heard an impassioned plea from a woman on FB yesterday. She was angry, frustrated but also explaining why she and others feel that way. She mentioned Tulsa and Rosewood. These are black communities (not just neighborhoods but sections of cities with black-owned stores, banks as well as residents) that were massacred by whites based on false accusations that someone black had committed a crime. These atrocities occurred in the late 1800’s and early 1920’s… just 100 years ago. While I am aware of these horror stories, I wonder how whites are. I was also curious about how common this violence is/was?
If found this succinct article describing Tulsa and 5 other massacres of our black citizens. https://www.bet.com/news/national/2019/12/17/not-just-tulsa–five-other-race-massacres-that-devastated-black.html
So while it’s impossible for me to understand what racism in this country feels like, I can imagine how I would feel if Tulsa or Rosewood were my communities. So while I don’t believe that violence is a path to peace and healing, I can understand that when the pain is so great and no one ever seems to care or be willing to change, that frustrated humans become angry and hopeless. And I wonder if all of the country was forced to learn about the massacres as just one small example of cruel and unusual punishment of our dark skinned citizen, perhaps we might comprehend a bit more about why change is critical to the survival of our country and our world.
We are one… we must be one… we must find a way to love.