To See Life Through a Filtered Lens: My Thoughts on The Divide in America

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” -Audre Lorde

If you have found yourself here, reading this blog post, I want to start by saying thank you. We are in a time, a terrifying time none the less, and the way to move forward and grow from this is to open our eyes and see things for what they are. I am not one to post on here about political issues but this is one I cannot continue to ignore. I might not represent everyone’s viewpoint on the things going on in the world right now. In fact, I really only want to share my viewpoint and I encourage you to seek out all other facts and viewpoints to develop your own opinion. I want to preface this post by stating something very simple: I am not seeking to argue. I am not seeking to put other people down, or insult others because they disagree. I encourage you all to refrain from doing any of these things.

Things here in the USA are very rough right now. The nation is falling apart, and Americans become more and more divided. People are dying. People are fighting about race and inequality. People are rioting, looting, and vandalizing cities all across the nation. People are violently assaulting and murdering police officers. People are saying mean, awful things to people in person and on the internet. Violent criminals are gaining full control of our nation right now. If you are anything like me, you are probably watching all of this happen from the comfort of your couch. Some of you might be scared which I fully understand because I think most of us are scared right now.

I’m very angry about all of what is going on, not just the riots, looting and assault on law enforcement, but also the death of an unarmed man in America at the hands of corrupt former police officers. I have spent months, weeks, days, and hours informing myself about things going on in this country. I always had a gut feeling about things going on but I never knew how important it really was to fully immerse and educate myself on the things that are taking place in this country and in the world right now. I’m scared, not for myself particularly, but for this nation.

I take great pride in being someone who wholeheartedly believes in equality among all races, religion, creed, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation. I will not feel guilty for being born as a white person, and if you were born as a non-prejudice white individual, you should not either. However, as white people, we have opportunity to be better and to be mindful that we cannot fully understand the racism struggles of someone else. I have never once in my life viewed any other human being as “less than me” based on their race. I know that not all white people are privileged and not all people who are of a different race are oppressed.  I firmly believe that all human beings are created equally. Rather than viewing us all as “the same,” we should instead celebrate our differences because in reality, it is our differences that make us unique to who we are. I also believe that we should educate ourselves on each other’s cultural differences and views. We do not have to agree or understand all of it but we should always treat others with respect regardless. I learned something from someone once who told me that when we “don’t look at color” we are contributing to the problem. She suggested that we look at each other’s differences in a positive way, and in a way that does not push people of different races or religion to adapt an ideology or  to change in order to avoid being ostracized. People who are not white should not be held to a different standard simply because they are different. America is inhabited by many different types of people, and that exactly is a huge part of what makes this country so great.

We live in a wonderful country, a country that was founded on freedom. We have freedoms to be who we want to be, worship the religion of our choice, speak up about things we disagree with, and freedom to choose our life paths we take. The difference is that we are not “free” to loot, riot, and destroy businesses all across the nation. We are not “free” to assault innocent police officers in  our big cities because people are angry.

I just want to tell you a secret that some probably already know, but choose to ignore. This secret is about one very powerful weapon that when used by the wrong people can be very destructive and can cause much devastation. The secret here is this: all of us see everything going on in the world through a filtered lens. I made this bold because if you do not take anything else away from this post, I want you to keep this in the back of your mind. The mainstream media, social media platforms, and even big corporations such as Amazon and Google are so bias. Tell me why YouTube can remove a video that is questioning the ideology of the political left because it “violates community guidelines” but chooses to allow only things that further push this left-sided agenda? Tell me why Amazon refused to allow a well-known author to sell his book that questioned the intentions of our left-wing leaders through the pandemic? They only allowed the book on Amazon after Elon Musk spoke out and exposed them for their bias, which really should tell you something. Tell me how you can censor things on social media platforms in a country founded on the basis of free speech? Tell me why Zuckerberg is getting heat from the left for saying he is not in support of removing things posted on Facebook by people on the right, including our President, but yet those on the left demand that Twitter fact-check the President’s tweets and remove content posted from the right? Tell me why the only things trending on Twitter are things that further push the left agenda and tear apart the right agenda?

Tell me why news anchors like Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo can literally sit in their chairs and lecture Americans for going out to enjoy time with their family on Memorial day? Some families have not been able to gather for weeks and instead of having humility for those people, they intentionally wanted to make people feel guilty for spending time with people they love because it might “spread the virus and kill grandma.” Only a couple of days later, these same overpaid news anchors are actively in full support of the violent riots, looting and protests. The people at these riots and even people protesting are within an inch distance away from one another. The crowds gathering are high in numbers, sometimes in the upwards of over 5,000. I’m all for a peaceful protest, but aren’t these the same overpaid news anchors who were saying a week ago how selfish it was for people to want to go back to work in order to feed their families? Just a little food for thought.

A name we have all came to know and will never forget is a black man who lived in Minneapolis named George Floyd. This man did not deserve to be treated the way he was. I’m pissed off at Derek Chauvin, a FORMER  police officer who is an absolute disgrace to the profession and to the hundreds of thousands of police officers who took an oath to serve and protect their communities. Derek Chauvin did not deserve to wear that badge and neither did the other three FORMER police officers who stood by and did nothing to stop this heinous act. I wonder how those former officers would feel if someone put their knee on their necks for almost nine minutes as they plead for them to stop by saying “I can’t breathe!” What I can tell you is this: these four former police officers represent a very tiny number of officers in this country. I can tell you for a fact that there is an overwhelming amount of honorable officers who put on their badge each and every day with the intent to protect and help people.

I’m incredibly angry when I hear that a police officer has been assaulted, shot, or murdered by rioters and violent protestors. I’m angry when I hear an officer has been harmed, or murdered by anyone actually. Throughout this pandemic, we have glorified and honored our healthcare heroes in the hospitals, nursing homes, and in all patient care areas across the world. We have heard people calling us heroes and thanking us for being brave and being faced on the front lines with the COVID 19 virus. It truly felt as if we were being treated like American military soldiers returning home from a tour in Iraq. As a healthcare employee myself, I don’t want to be glorified and most other healthcare employees can agree. We want the appropriate PPE and protection for ourselves, good working conditions, and we genuinely want to help our patients through each and every long shift.

While we glorify our healthcare heroes with free merchandise and discount coupons, why are we not glorifying our police officers right now? These are the same people who stand between you and a dangerous criminal every single day. They are the ones who are being sold short right now with the amount of violence going on. Not only are they being sold short, so are those people who live in crime-ridden areas across the nation. The people in low income neighborhoods are not only white people, but we have low income black neighborhoods all across the nation who are vulnerable now, let alone without protection. They are unable to protect those who need it because there is not enough of them to stop all of this crime. They are actively being shot at, having things thrown at them, and are being physically assaulted all across the nation. We have programs that are actively working to “defund the police.” So, you mean to tell me, the answer to the problem (a problem caused by a select few of disgraceful officers who never should have had the privilege of wearing that badge I might add)  is to defund the police? The police are the only safety and security that some people have in low-income, crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities. Can you imagine a world without “law and order?” It would be completely taken over by criminals because they no longer would have repercussions for their illegal actions. The idea of “defunding the police” is the most ignorant idea and policy I have ever heard of, second to the “no bail reform” but that is a different story for another day. Maybe we should spend more time engaging the police in the communities. The only problem with that idea is that you will only build strong relationships with the law-abiding citizens because we know good and well that criminals won’t be out trying to better their relationship with the very same people who arrest them for their criminal activity.

“Defunding” our police only puts the most vulnerable people in the nation at risk. Think of a single mother who works hard but is struggling financially, as she returns to her home in a low-income neighborhood, to get robbed at gunpoint for all of her tip money she got from working a busy Friday night at a restaurant. Who will be there to patrol and monitor this type of activity? I know these things happen all of the time unfortunately but who do you call if you were robbed at gunpoint? Who would you call if someone was trying to break into your home at 3am? That’s right, you would call the POLICE. When you take away money, there will be fewer officers on the force to protect innocent people from danger. Do you think those Antifa members and people supporting this ridiculous act will be there for you when you are being robbed for your purse at midnight? Will they come save you in your home while you are terrified of the burglar breaking into your window? I don’t think so.

I fully support the fact that we do need to hold those in law enforcement accountable for their actions, but I won’t support putting them in danger to do so. I don’t want to see a child grow up without a parent because their mom or dad died in the line of duty as an officer. Take a look in Indianapolis at a brave officer, Breann Leath, who was a 24-year old black woman with a young son who was killed in the line of duty in April when she responded to a domestic call to help the victim. There were no riots. There was no looting. There was not one protest. So, only the black lives that matter are the ones who are at the hands of an officer? Do I believe that parents of a black son or daughter do worry differently than those of a white child? Do I believe that people who are of a different race experience prejudice that we do not fully understand? I do, but why does it have to be this way?

People will believe what they see on the media because that is precisely what we have been conditioned to do. Right now, coming out of a pandemic and lockdown, people are at their most vulnerable. Instead of instilling optimism and confidence in the American people, the media is persistent on instilling fear and guilt to force you to change your opinions because they want to make people feel that it is their fault for so many problems in this country. There are going to be racist people in the world and in my opinion, the way to fight that is to rise above and be the bigger person. If they want to live their lives in hatred for another race, let them. Don’t base the way you value yourself on the ignorance of a racist person. Find value in who you are not only for your race that you should be proud of regardless, but in who you are as a person. I don’t want people of a different race that I interact with on a daily basis to look at me differently, just as I will never view them differently. I just want all of us to support each other and lift each other up. Right now, we as the white people need to be present and supportive for all black people.

The intention of the media showing things that only push a one sided agenda is to divide us as a country and as people. It will be easy for the damage to get done when we, the Americans, do it ourselves. Instead of ganging up on one another, we need to come together and rise above these politicians and news media anchors. The strongest force against a problem is the unity of one another. I want to see people of all races coexist here in this beautiful, free country. We need to support each other, not tear each other down. We need to be strong together, all races, lending a hand and supporting each other. We need to honor those who have selflessly sacrificed their lives for us to live the life we do. We need to honor the honorable law enforcement who fully commit to their oath to protect and serve their cities and communities. We need to show respect for others and be mindful that their life experiences might be different than ours. We need to be open-minded and understanding. Lastly, we need to pray. We need to pray for our nation and for all of the people in it. We need to pray for the family of George Floyd as they lay their loved one to rest. We need to pray that one day, we can all join together hand in hand to fight for equality for everyone, regardless of race, religion, sex, creed, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation. We will prevail and we will come out of this stronger than ever before. Thank you for reading.

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