February 04, 2019

THERE IS NO PLACE ON EARTH FOR HATE!

There is no place on Earth for hate. Let’s say it together…

It’s unfortunate that in 2019 we are still grappling with extreme violence because of hatred. It shows up in simple micro-aggressions on the job every day as well as in major bouts between police and civil rights protesters but there really is no place on this Earth for hate.

It’s so much easier said than done. We know, but it is possible. We know it’s possible because there are generations of examples of people who’ve suffered extreme hate, and didn’t in-turn project that hatred out into the world and onto other people.

We know that hurt people, hurt people. We know and we’re not discounting that pain causes people to do damage, but that damage is of paramount importance when we attempt to break generational cycles of trauma. The trauma exists in both the generations of oppressed people, as well as those generations of oppressors.

There are hundreds of years of hatred and pain and trauma that are engrained in the bones of America’s institutions; etched into the skin of the children who have learned what humanity looks like by the way this country treats its citizens. Unfortunately, for many of us, those lessons have involved degradation, humiliation, and unrepentant threats of violence. And this becomes the crux of the American problem.

This unresolved trauma, that has permeated every institution, every interaction, every instance a police officer takes the life of an unarmed person of color or ignores the violence inflicted upon trans women of color. There are just too many instances of violence, too many names for us, as a people, to not suffer from some form of mass PTSD, picking at a perpetually open wound every time we see another victim’s name scroll across the screen.

Here we are, America in 2019, and the propaganda machine that weaponized the 2nd Amendment against the Black Panther party is still churning out anti-Black rhetoric, turning American citizens into refugees, disregarding the regulated poisoning of our babies, and gentrifying our neighborhoods while underfunding our public schools. But none of this is anything new, and it shouldn’t continue to surprise any of us.

When we find elected officials engaging in racist behaviors, either currently or swept deep into the annals of their public record, it should not surprise anyone. Problematic behavior is as much the American way as McDonald’s fries, misguided exceptionalism, and laughable hypocrisy. Truly, an objective assessment of American history would lead one to understand that none of the country’s current challenges are shocking or surprising.

So what are we to do now? Be honest, for one. Once we get there, we can address the rest of these challenges.

It’s time that we all find ways to hold ourselves accountable, or be held accountable for our actions. Governor Northam of Virginia had an opportunity to address his transgressions, but chose an alternate course, and is now being held accountable. Accountability may not always come from places one would expect, and consequences may not always appear to be fair, just or timely.

Acknowledgement is where we start. It is the first step to addressing the litany of grievances that have compiled over the last 5 centuries. It’s going to take some time, but every journey starts with one step.