If only there was some way of explaining, particularly to individuals who should be in control of public behavior today (national leaders/politicians, religious devotees, management, labor) that they can better satisfy egoistic impulses by earning the goodwill of others than by attacking them, we would succeed in controlling festering human aggression better than by any other means advanced thus far.
You would think that after all this time (how many thousands of years?) the human rights issue that continues to rear its ugly head, would have been worked out to mutual satisfaction. The trouble is that we have a wrong conception about being "created equal." While incorporated in our national constitutions, its usual simplistic interpretation is manifestly false.
Admittedly, this is a difficult societal issue to wrap one's mind around and perhaps I should not be attempting to do so. But I will anyway...because Wrights Lane is my party of sorts and I'll cry if I want to (as Lesley Gore sang back in the 1960s).
Time and again we hear the idealism that all human beings are created equal and therefore should have the same rights. The contention is incorporated in our national constitutions, but I can't help but believe that the usual simplistic interpretation is manifestly false. After all, some people are fat, others slim; some are intelligent, others just a little slow; some are blessed with certain talents, others are not; some are weak and sickly, others are strong, some have 20/20 vision, others are blind and, yes, some are black while some are white. There's no denying those facts. Even identical twins are not completely equal, especially when raised under differing circumstances.
Given the reality of all that, however, all human beings should have the same chance to be happy, self fulfilled and, dare I say, respected for the individual they are as opposed to the color of their skin, their country of origin or a certain way they appear. And, on that subject, I want to take just a moment to suggest that, regardless of race, color or creed, (or mixture of same) we should be instilling in our impressionable young people today their uniqueness before they are exposed to the inevitable mean-spirited bullying and bigotry of the real world.
Just as no two snowflakes are alike, our creator made us all unique individuals and we all have a purpose in life to fulfill. Kids need to learn to be proud of their differences and to never be shameful or wish that they were someone else. It needs to be reinforced that it is what they do with that God-given difference that really matters. God made them special and loves them just the way they are.
Even as adults we must learn to celebrate uniqueness and differences -- all at the same time.
And on a not completely unrelated subject...
Equal treatment of the races is paramount in today's world, but historically there continues to be resistance. There is no denying that certain races have been downtrodden, discriminated against and relegated to a lowly third class (or less) status primarily by white elitism as life has evolved over the centuries.
When we hear about the Black Lives Matter movement our (Whites) first reaction is to respond by rationalizing that "All lives Matter". Initially, without thinking, that was my response too. Of course all lives matter, but the truth is that has not been the case -- Black lives have not always mattered.
Black lives did not matter when they were inhumanely transported like livestock from Africa. Black lives did not matter when they were lynched by the hundreds at the hands of the KKK. Black lives did not matter when they were attacked by dogs as they protested for equal rights.
As someone who is constantly bombarded with the howling of “but all lives matter”—and the heated conversations that inevitably follow—let me explain. Black Lives Matter is not a term of confrontation or an exclusionary demand. As Columbia Law Professor Kimberle Crenshaw explains, saying black lives matter “is simply aspirational;” it's a rallying cry for a shift in statistical numbers that show that people who are black in the United States are twice as likely to be killed by a police officer while unarmed, compared to a white individual. According to a 2015 study, African-Americans died at the hands of police at a rate of 7.2 per million, while whites were killed at a rate of 2.9 per million.
The large discrepancy in the Blacks vs. Whites crime statistics, in my mind, can be attributed to the fact that Blacks are more inclined to break the law as a matter of survival due to unemployment and other less than adequate living conditions that exist in some community neighborhoods in both the U.S. and Canada. With many young Blacks, crime has become a way of life...They know no other way.
Ultimately, as far as this ugly issue is concerned, when public responses in all walks of life become human responses as opposed to racial responses, that is when we’re going to see change as a society.
I would make one slight change to the BLM slogan, however, and that would be "Black Lives Matter Too."
In Ontario our government has developed a most commendable road map for addressing racism and improving outcomes for Black communities in the province. It is well worth reading and ultimately supporting. Details of the program can be viewed at https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-anti-black-racism-strategy.
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