Reflections on Hate

The last month or so has been a swirling bag of emotions around the tragic murders of the Emanuel 9 #emanuel9 because of the hate that caused it to happen.  The night it happened I followed the news closely on twitter.  I just could not believe it.  Why? 

Why would someone do that…go into a church and kill people during bible study?  There was only one answer…hate.  Being African American you grow up with it. Hate.  It tends to be more subtle these days but you can instantly tell it when you walk into a room or you meet someone.  While I was not raised to hate, I was raised to be careful.  Raised to know what hate looks like.  As a black person you have to know this…to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.  You could end up dead.  Unfortunately, I have had to be sure that my own child knows what hate looks like because it is REAL.  Most of her friends are Caucasian and I have told her she needs to be aware of where she is and what kind of places she goes to with friends.  The local redneck dive bar is not the place for her to go to. 

The nine lost that night were at bible study.  They did not feel the need to be careful.  They were at church.  Why would they need to worry about anything in church?  I was crushed.  I felt like I was kicked in the stomach.  When I learned that someone I had known since high school was one of the victims it mad me numb inside.  It was all so senseless.

When I went to the City Prayer Vigil at the TD Arena, Rabbi Stephanie Alexander said the hate that killed the four  girls in Alabama in church is the same hate that killed the nine at Mother Emanuel, fifty two years later.  She is right.  That hate is old.  It is taught. Today it is still real. 

Look at what is happening now in the city of Charleston.  The KKK is papering neighborhoods with messages of hate.  Black churches on James Island are being shot up.  It has just been luck that no one else has been killed.  Hate groups are trying to instill fear and create chaos. 

I am glad that Charleston came together.  We were not torn apart in hate but brought together in peace and love.  I was one of the fifteen thousand up on the Ravenel Bridge for the Unity Chain.  There was no way I was going to miss that.  I wanted to be  part of the good that occurred after such a tragedy. 

I attended the funeral of Cynthia Hurd. I have know her since high school.  After almost not making it into the church after a two hour wait I was just at the point were the line was stopped and people were told to go to 2nd Presbyterian Church as a viewing center. I made it in...one of the last 25 allowed in.  We were ushered to a side door where we entered the church and were seated in front of two big screen TV's where we could watch the service upstairs.  After watching the screen for awhile, I began to look around and thing back on where the nine were killed.  The news report said in the downstairs basement area. We were in that area. Then it dawned on me.  I was sitting in the location were the tragedy happened.  Where they have bible study.

In front of me was a table with a white cloth on it and lots of flowers.   There were also nine  large standing sprays with a picture of each of the nine lost.  It all came together.  I really was sitting in the area where they were killed.  My heart got really heavy with that realization.  I had read in the paper where the team from MUSC had come in to properly clean the church.  The energy in the room changed for me and I said a little prayer. 

I said a prayer then for those lost and their families and for the wonderful city of Charleston. All the good things that have occurred since the tragedy have given me hope.  Hope that one day people of color will not have hate to deal with.

Good has and will come out of this tragedy.  Hate has been beaten back for now.  We just have to be sure that we don’t lose sight of the grace that God have given all of us.  With unity and love we can all come together and give hate a backseat, but it will require constant vigilance.  I still have hope for the future and of future generations.

 

 

 

Starbucks Race Together

 

 

Starbucks Race Together?  REALLY?  I am not sure who came up with this idea, that our baristas should talk race relations to customers, but it is crazy.  When I am in that long line with 20 other people trying to get coffee in the morning, when will there be time.  Those baristas would have time for that.  Nor do I have time to teach them about 40 years of slavery and oppression.  I just want then to get my order right and call me by the right name.  Remember my name! 

 

I read on twitter that people were all up in arms about this.  I can see why.  If we want to improve race relations, corporate America and companies need to hire more people of color.  I frequent about 4 local Starbucks in my town and there are no black people making coffee drinks.  They lets look at our schools and education systems.  Teachers in urban areas are not doing their jobs They are not teaching and African American kids come out of school not prepared for college or the world of work.  I know.  I am a teachers daughter and have seen it first hand  It is a shame that the education levels are not the same. 

 

Another thing is technology.  Due to income differences, many black families in poor areas do not have access to the internet or computers and so much of education today involves the web and having access.  Then lets look at the prison systems.  They are filled with black men, many innocent. With our advances technology it seems that almost weekly there is a story where DNA is tested with todays technology and an innocent black man has been imprisoned for just about his entire life. 

 

And there is plenty more.  At work recently my coworkers were discussing their heritage and how to get into the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Joking to all one coworker asked each of us to tell out links to this kind of stuck up organization.  It was  joke Some said they had links, others had no links and when they got to me, what could I say?  I told her my people were slaves and we built this country, so any links DAR was claiming, I was claiming too.  Well, I shut that down quick.  We all went back to our cubes to work.

 

Can a Starbucks barista address race relations in the 8 to 10 minutes I am waiting for my coffee?  I think not and I am sure that with some of the very realistic answers I could give, it might just be "hashtag awkward!"

Naked Man Shot By Police

I know this is 2015 but racism is alive and well everywhere.  I read the article this morning about the officer killing the naked man in Georgia.  Seems very typical but there should have been a better way.  Why did the officer have to use his gun.  The man was naked and crawling around on the ground.  Why not use the Taser?  That would have incapacitated the man but not kill him.   Apparently he was a veteran suffering from mental illness.  There has to be a better way. 

It is open season on African Americans.  It is shoot first and ask questions later. You would think that times have improved but they have not...or not that much. Racism is something taught.  You do not come out of the womb a racist.  Parents teach their children to hate. Thus, those of us who were not raised that way, we have to be careful.  We have to teach our children to be aware that you may not be treated the right way when confronted by the police.  Better yet, do whatever you have to do not to be confronted by the police.  The outcome is not in our favor. 

There is still a reason to march...one day we shall overcome. We shall overcome one day.