Dear Peeps,
You know why we’re having racial protests right smack in the middle of a pandemic, don’t you? Think hard with me here….In this sub-series in The Journey with Grace—”Grace in the Time of Corona,” I’ve been writing about how there’s light and dark sides of this pandemic. The lighter, brighter side, juxtaposed to the very dark, dark side, is giving us opportunities to s-l-o-w down. To listen. To clean out our cluttered cabinets—both in our abodes and the depository we wear above our shoulders and attached to our necks. (If we can see and allow this gift of time.)
Of course, part of the dark side is the pain and suffering that this full stop has brought to our lives, culture, and economy. Part of that darkness that we get a chance (if we take the opportunity to do so,) to peer into is all that ails our wrangled, tangled, torn up, broken American society. We can’t deny, if we see through the viewfinders of our hearts, the disparities. Government officials cutting deals that make them richer. We’re the wealthiest nation in the world, and yet healthcare workers can’t get personal protective equipment. Small business loans going to prop up restaurant chains when local mom and pops are shuttering. People out of work with no savings to pay their rent and afford groceries while at risk of losing their shelter. Essential workers in the gig economy risking their lives for less and less pay to keep the rest of us, (or many of us,) stocked with gourmet groceries and restaurant take out.
It’s economic disparity and it’s racial disparity. Brown and black people, (Native Americans, Hispanic and African American, etc.,) dying at the highest rate, suffering socio-economically at the highest rates. The giant bandaid has been ripped off. Warp speed and it hurts, it stinks, it’s oozing, and it’s ugly.
Fires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes didn’t stop us. But this pandemic did. And speaking of environment, poor, racial minorities statistically suffer the most from our environmental abuse and disasters.
We can no longer deny these ills, they are staring us in the face. I’m wondering if part of the police violence on blacks is happening from pent up pandemic frustration unleashed. Of course, it’s also because black lives are valued less. It cannot help that our commander-in-chief says from the oval office that there’s some “very fine” people among the white nationalists who protested in Charlottesville, West Va. in a “Unite the Right” rally in 2017. A leader who repeatedly makes comments excusing or defending actions against racial minorities.
I’m sure I’m not alone in asking upon hearing each day’s news event cycle during this pandemic: “Could it get any worse?”
The visionaries amongst us say it’s going to get worse. Much worse. What will it take until we deconstruct what is not working and address the disparities? Something. A lot of things. Much worse.
As American turmoil has only increased exponentially the last four-plus years, I and others ponder, when is our pitchfork moment? The race riots? That may be it. Or the start. Or a continuation. It may be when both “sides” unite against leadership, lack of leadership, imbalanced and at the perilous sacrifice of the common folk.
America needs a serious soul searching. That soul has become collectively dark, stained with narcissistic greed. A focus on me and my over the collective good. I don’t know the answer. I just know this is an opportunity, whether we seize it personally or collectively to right wrongs. And it always starts with me. You. Each of us. We each contribute to injustices, many of us utterly unaware. We can make a contribution by creating awareness, by creating space within ourselves, by cleaning out the dark shadows in our own lives. The wrongs unforgiven. The wrongs committed. Personal arrogance.(And, I’ve got four fingers pointing back at me. )
It’s starts with waking up….Here’s “a starter course.” Brene Brown explains privilege better than anyone I’ve ever heard. And then there’s this.
