This week, I don’t feel right writing about travel and beautiful places in the world. It does not seem right with what I now know about the current issues of racism, discrimination and segregation in the U.S.
I can’t keep writing about the sunny and beautiful travel destinations without talking about something close and personal to me, pretending it does not exist.
I was shocked and appalled to hear that one of the people responsible for protecting our lives has taken one of us. This person whose life was taken was no longer resisting, simply asking to breathe.
There have also been other accounts of unlawful breaking and entering by police officers that were unidentifiable as such, resulting in the death of an innocent 26 year-old, Breonna Taylor. Come to find out that the unidentifiable police had entered the wrong house, and the person they were searching for was already in jail.
There have been thousands of other incidents like these that have divided our nation instead of uniting it.
I find that the United States has always been a nation of diverse people, with Irish, German, Polish, African, Native American, and other nationalities. We are a nation of outsiders, trying to fit in in our own land. Indeed, the United States has been nicknamed the “melting pot” or “salad bowl” of the world. We are supposed to be united and joined, hand in hand supporting our neighbors, no matter their heritage, the color of their skin, or their religion.
We even have a pledge that reminds us of these beliefs, they are so strong. “I pledge the allegiance to the flag…. with liberty and justice for all.”
However, there never has been justice for all. Never.
I remember in school talking about slavery and segregation, and I was brought to believe that these issues no longer existed. These affected individuals have been forced to keep quiet all along, being fired for telling the truth about how white people have abused others, and they take the blame for it, as was the case of a female African American police officer.
There never has been justice for all, never.
Imagine if it was your daughter that was fired for telling the truth. Imagine if it was your daughter that was killed by an unannounced, unofficial police raid, when the police had entered the wrong house, and the person they had been searching for was already in jail. Imagine it was your son who was knelt on for over 8 minutes, begging for ease, for his mother, for water, simply for air.
These people have been forced to keep quiet and accept this for too long. Such situations would definitely come out in the media if they happened to white individuals. We could be assured that justice would be served to them.
There never has been justice for all. Never.
It is our job to take a look at ourselves, to have these conversations with other white individuals. The African Americans already know this is an issue. But they cannot do anything about it except accept it. They have been a minority for too long, and it seems our nation does not value what minorities have to say. They do not have enough power to make a change.
No, we need to make the changes ourselves. We need to stop being afraid of being overtaken by other races. What does it matter if we have similar ideals, that anyone can succeed and pursue his or her dreams? Does race mean that one person’s dreams are less achievable than someone else’s of a different race?
Just as it never matters what eye color I have when I take an exam or apply for a job, it should not matter what skin color I have. We all saw what happened when people of certain eye colors and hair colors, and races were forbidden from marrying, even forced to wear stars as identification, and sent to their deaths in concentration camps in Europe in World War II. Do we really want this to happen again, but in the U.S?
We need to do something, peacefully loudly, to make the voices of each and every person heard.
Have these tough conversations with your neighbor, with your cousin, with your friends. It is the only way we can even start to talk about bringing a change, to bring justice to all. But this relies on you. Can we count on you?
“RACE AND RACISM IS A REALITY THAT SO MANY OF US GROW UP LEARNING TO JUST DEAL WITH. BUT IF WE EVER HOPE TO MOVE PAST IT, IT CAN’T JUST BE ON PEOPLE OF COLOR TO DEAL WITH IT. IT’S UP TO ALL OF US- BLACK, WHITE, EVERYONE, NO MATTER HOW WELL-MEANING WE THINK WE MIGHT BE, TO DO THE HONEST, UNCOMFORTABLE WORK OF ROOTING IT OUT. IT STARTS WITH SELF-EXAMINATION AND LISTENING TO THOSE WHOSE LIVES ARE DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN. IT ENDS WITH JUSTICE, COMPASSION, AND EMPATHY THAT MANIFESTS IN OUR LIVES AND ON OUR STREETS.” – MICHELLE OBAMA
