Let Me Catch Up: 1 Feguson

I cannot believe that I have not blogged since July, even though I took August off, and made it a month of rest and reflection. I did absolutely nothing--what I found out is that we really need to have something to do because otherwise, we have no sense of time or date. It was as if I were in the twilight zone. So let me catch up!!

I did not blog during the entire Ferguson incident, and received an email from a very dear Peace Corps friend in which she expressed her frustration with everything that was going on there.She worried about our grandsons, and other young men I care about. I recognized and appreciated the sincerity of her concern.

Unfortunately, when others are having conversations with their sons about how to behave, Black parents of sons, have always had to have conversations with them about how to behave when the police stop them. It is nothing new, and it is a reality of black life. I am not sure if someone who is not Black, can even understand the depth of this dilemma. When folks, historically, were able to beat black men into submission, and in 12 Years a Slave, we even saw Solomon beat a woman at the request of the master,I am not sure how that leaves one’s psyche. I have heard all of the arguments about “I never had a slave,” “I had nothing to do with it,” but still, history repeats itself because some can never get beyond what was done by their forefathers. It also enslaves the mind of some blacks, who still have what we call “a slave mentality.”

What is most distressing to me, is that the fact that we have a Black President, has brought out all of the closeted racists, from football team and basketball team owners, to those voted into office. How ingrained racism is in this country, that some feel that it is just the way things have been, and will always be. I imagine if you have believed a certain way for so long, it is hard to “un believe” it. Those who believed that there was “Power” because they are a certain race, are holding firm to the belief that that “power” was snatched away from them, and they still can’t believe it. TWO TERMS! I guess some feel that they still have to put folks “in their place."

Ferguson did not surprise me in any way--it did not surprise anyone who looks like me. What is surprising is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Nevertheless, I have hope. The fact that our grandchildren have a president who looks like them, lets them know that no matter what anyone tries to take from them, they know what they can become. I have hope, because I have seen change over the years. I have hope, because I believe that good always overcomes evil. I have hope because sometimes hope is all we have!!!