Saturday, December 20, 2014

Only One World


More importantly, I am troubled that as an officer of the law, based on the color of a woman's skin compared to his own, he can dismiss any professional or commonsense appreciation for her concern for her safety in the presence and proximity of a stranger.

As a black man with a white wife, I am troubled that my wife’s concern when passing a stranger would be dismissed and attributed to racism because that stranger happened to be black. Who cares that her husband, her children, her in-laws, and her friends are black; because the stranger was black, she is racist.

Black America has devolved past the white-America of the 60s. Black America not only judges others by their skin, we judge others by our skin.

Officer Sanders is dead wrong. He lives in only one world, but he has accepted the fabricated world in which racism lurks behind every corner, and he allows that world to shape his reality.

Black Americans decry “profiling” and stereotypes, yet have no issues when Barack Obama or Officer Sanders reveal their prejudices about whites. In fact, we champion those prejudices.

When it comes to young black men dressed and carrying themselves like thugs, hoodies hiding their faces, skulking around in shadows; we are shamed for “assuming” their appearance and actions accurately portray their character and intentions. When it comes to white women guarding their person in the presence of a black stranger; well the concern is obviously ONLY because he is black, and indicative of racism running rampant through ALL OF WHITE AMERICA. (Oh yeah, no profiling or discrimination there.)

I feel sorry for Officer Sanders that he has created the prison and imprisoned himself in it; however, I am outraged that he holds others accountable and spreads the lies and foundation for other black Americans to construct similar prisons for themselves.

I live in the exact same world Officer Sanders does, and I never notice store security following me, I never notice white women in fear of me, and I never fear the police shooting me, because I have no reason to.

For the purpose of making the point above, I highlighted that I am a black man with a white wife. Of course, neither I, my wife, nor our children see it that way. I am a man. She is a woman. We love each other. Period.

It is Officer Sanders, Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and countless others that just won’t let it be, and then they blame my wife, my family, my friends, my community, and my country and fellow countrymen.

Officer Sanders, you seem like a decent fellow, but if you don’t want to live in two worlds, you need to make the decision to cast one aside. If you’re having trouble deciding which world is real, let me give you a hint. If your skin color was the issue, the uniform wouldn't solve it.

Stop feeding the distrust. Stop building up that other world. Start giving people that which you so self-righteously claim as your just deserts: the benefit of the doubt.

Did you ever think the store security follows you because you obviously keep looking over your shoulder at them. Maybe the white woman on the street guards her purse, because she noticed you obviously looking at it.

A great man once said (and I paraphrase) the best way to end racism is to stop being racist.


I tried it, it works. 

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

Yes! Bravo!
I'm a mutt. I've always felt somewhere on the outside on racial matters. But they only matter if you let them.