Is This Who We Really Are?
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I watched a rerun of the talk show, The View, last week and during their Hot Topics segment, they discussed an individual who was running for Governor of Georgia who wanted to round up all of the ‘illegals’ and send them back to their country. He actually repurposed a school bus for this venture and on the back of the bus, there were offensive signs posted which alluded to criminals being on board and that the bus was heading to Mexico. The segment was disturbing but sadly, it was a very familiar scene, given what has been happening at the US/Mexico border.
You also cannot watch or read the news now without seeing a hate crime being perpetrated towards someone of another race, religion, nationality or sexual persuasion. Take into consideration the recent story of two young black males who were going to enjoy some summer fun at a local pool but could not because a woman approached them, acting aggressively and told them they did not belong there. How about the commenters online who had lots to say about Meghan Markle’s messy hair one day or how she crossed her legs at a recent function. How about the body shaming that women (and increasingly, more men) regularly go through? There are so many examples out there of criticism, judgment, shaming and intolerance, it is actually quite staggering.
There are many questions I can’t stop asking myself…why are we so intolerant? Why do we see people who may not be like us or look like us as dangerous or as the ‘other’ who are out to get us? Why do we think we are better than others, just by virtue of where we happened to be born or of what happens to be the colour of our skin? Were we always like this or has more recent factors like the anonymity of the internet and separately, the current state of US politics opened the dark door on who people really are at their core? What happened to the old adage of judging someone by the content of their character
Shades readers, we don’t have the answers. But maybe you can help us. Tell us what you think. Share some good stories with us about people being kind and compassionate. Can we fight the opposite tide of hate and intolerance and judgment? We can damned well try, right?
(Please keep reading and sharing our stories – this is not the last we have to say on this type of topic! Thanks!)