Injustice from a different perspective

Today I feel sick.  I want to throw up, I want to cry, and I want to ask that police officer what in the world he was thinking. 

I’m sure all of you have heard about, and may even be sick of hearing about what just happened in Ferguson, Missouri.  A police officer shot an unarmed teenage boy while he was on his way to his grandma’s house.  Now I don’t know much about the context of this and I don’t know what the boy did to the police officer to catch his attention, but I do know that someone’s son, someone’s grandson, someone’s brother, someone’s cousin, someone’s nephew, someone’s friend, and everyone’s brother in Christ has now lost his life because of the action the police officer decided to take.  And the boy was UNARMED.

We should be sick of hearing about stories like these, and NOT because we are annoyed by them, but because THEY SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING. 

The following article is a good read, and includes numerous perspectives.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/09/ferguson-teen-police-shooting_n_5665305.html

The problem that I have with this is that I believe the color of this boy’s skin was either the reason he was chased, the reason he was shot, or both.  If that were me, or a white male would the outcome have been different?  Sadly, I think yes.  Racial profiling is real and it not only negatively affects the victims, but it negatively affects us all as we see continuous images of African Americans being arrested, shot, dealing drugs, driving drunk, in gangs, ect.  We all have these images engrained in our minds and then the cycle of racial profiling continues.  What we don’t see are the high school graduation photos, college graduation photos, family pictures, etc.  We are fed the negative to keep the stereotype alive.

The following article depicts a twitter trend that began when this boy was killed and brings to the surface the media’s ability to intentionally create a stereotypical image of African Americans. 

http://mashable.com/2014/08/12/iftheygunnedmedown-hashtag/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfdTZoOGx4NDA2NTh4c29qcSJ9

This is true.  When an African American is arrested or in trouble for something, the media does not use their high school graduation picture or a picture of them taking care of their grandmother.  Instead, they use a picture of them wearing a hoodie and jeans, sunglasses, holding up the peace sign (which many like to call a gang sign).  The media intentionally creates this image, and we, for the most part, believe it.  It’s sickening.

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I have many friends of different ethnicities and work with and love numerous children as well.  When I read this story, I think about my friends, I think about my kids from the Lighthouse, and I wonder what the future holds for them.  I think about the privileges that I have simply because of the color of my skin and I think about how unfair, unjust, and un-Christ-like that is.  I think about people who say that racism does not exist, and I wonder what rock they are living under. 

In Ferguson, Missouri the town itself is over 60% African American, yet their mayor and police chief are white, and just 3 of their 53 police officers are African American.

For where I found this statistic and more:    http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/08/10-insane-numbers-ferguson-killing

This problem is real and we should all care about it.  And I challenge you all, the next time you are walking down the street and walk past an African American teenage boy, what do you think?  What thought automatically pops into your mind as you look at that boy (who is maybe wearing a hoodie and baggy pants or maybe not)?  And then put yourself in that boy’s shoes, of the shoes of his mother, or father, or grandparent, friend, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.  Is that how you would want someone to view your loved one?  Without even a conversation, simply by first glance taking only into consideration his outward appearance….that’s a life.  A life that is being criticized by the media, a life without white privilege, a life that has to be more afraid of the police that trusting, a life that maybe has to work at least twice as hard to attend college or get a decent paying job, a life that is easily oppressed, marginalized and discriminated against, and a life that can so easily be taken like what happened just a few days ago in the “Land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

This problem is serious and if we don’t change our opinions and stereotypes now, this problem will continue on for generations to come.  The USA was founded on the beliefs in justice, freedom, equality, liberty, yet I see none of those at work in this situation.  Instead, I see injustice, subordination, inequality, and prohibition.  We’ve got to care about this.  We have to change the perspectives we have about people of all colors, sexual orientations, ethnicities, etc., in an effort to make the media do the same.  The potency of the media and their ability to control how we all think needs to end.  We should no longer fall for the stereotypes they hand us, and should seek to love and bring about justice for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Now, you are probably wondering how any of this relates to me being here in Argentina.  When my host family and friends from here saw this story on the news they just could not comprehend it.  They did not understand how a police officer (who is designed to protect) could kill a teenage boy who was unarmed.  They were bewildered and confused and could not even believe this was real.  It made me wonder if we, in the US have become numb to things like this, or are beginning to get used to them. If we are, that needs to stop, like yesterday.  We can’t become accustomed to this.  The views of my family and friends made me realize on a whole different level how sick, and disgusting, and inhumane, and dehumanizing, and immoral, and unjust, and unfair, and unequal, and oppressive, and racist, and discriminatory, and sad, and seemingly against everything the United States stands for this situation is.   For the first time, I viewed this situation from a different lens and it only made me feel sadder, madder, and more disappointed.

I don’t know how to make a big change, but I am a believer that little individual changes can create the big ones.  I think we all just need to be honest with ourselves and the stereotypes that we have that we may not even know we are thinking.  We need to realize them, and then throw them away forever, and we need to do it now.  I want my kids from the Lighthouse, my nieces, the kids from Wayne, PA, and those from Kensington, Philadelphia to grow up in a country where the color of one’s skin is not even a thought, the police truly do exist to protect people of all colors, every individual is given the same opportunities, and where love abides strongly between all people.  That’s my dream, and I think it should be everyone’s as well.  Let’s begin with the little changes so that someday this country can actually be what I believe it was designed to be.