Sometimes you really want to say something, to make a post that causes people to stop and think. Maybe to even change someone’s mind along the way, although for some people you do have to wonder what kind of a mind they have in their heads in the first place.
We all know the pain the world is in at the moment. We all know that a virus is stealing lives at a frightening rate. We all know of the horror of George Floyd’s life being taken from him for no reason other than the colour of his skin. When this terrible event happened I wondered what awful crime this man must have been stopped for to deserve such violent treatment. Was he holding up a bank? Was he threatening someone else’s life? It must have been something truly serious yes? Oh… actually not so much. He was suspected of using a fake $20 bill… if he had been a white man would he have received the same level of treatment (or rather mistreatment), sadly I think we all know the answer to that one.
I can’t pretend to know how it must feel to be on the receiving end of racial abuse, to know that some people will judge you based on nothing more than the colour of your skin. I can’t even start to imagine how a person learns to live with that treatment.
I guess that means I’m lucky. Lucky to have been born with the “right” coloured skin. I didn’t choose it, I didn’t do anything to deserve my good fortune, I didn’t work hard to be accepted by the world with my pale coloured complexion. I did nothing. So why does my skin tone make me safe when another persons does not?
I am glad to say I have never understood racism. I find it hard to get my head around the fact that people can judge a whole group of people with no real reason. Yes, there are bad black people, just like there are bad white people, and bad people of ever race, creed, religion and race. People are people. Good, bad, happy, sad… we are all made from the same building blocks of life and in a time of such global crisis we need to support each other more than ever.
I only meant this to be a very brief post, I wanted to share a couple of pictures I snaffled off social media because one of the most irritating things I’ve been seeing lately is the whole All Lives Matter thing… it just makes me want to shake people, to make them see that they just don’t “get it.” Are these people genuinely thinking that this makes it an all inclusive statement and are just not realising how dismissive it actually comes across? I hope so. I hope when I see it that it comes from a good place, but I’m sure that on occasion it doesn’t … so these pictures seemed to explain it far better than I ever could.
Thank you for reading 🙂
Dawn Delivers 
Well said, Dawn! These images are perfect. I grew up surrounded by people who made racists statements but didn’t believe themselves to be racist. And yet, I see people for the souls that their bodies harbor within. I find the diverse colors of skin to be beautiful. And I can also acknowledge that, for far to long, one’s opportunities in life have been hindered the darker one’s skin tone is. It saddens me that there are people who can claim to be godly but can turn and insult and demean a fellow human. I believe we are in a time where the collective souls can make real change, but it takes ALL of us, every shade of skin, to stand together and demand that change. I hope it happens. 🙂
Dawn its exhausting day after day, century after century. I’ve always been touched by it without ever realizing it which really disgusted me. I appreciate your perspective on it.
One other thing Dawn. You say that you can’t imagine what it feels like … Just closed your eyes and imagine that you are the one in the choke hold, or being chased and shot at, or even if it is a white person being killed like that; then you will be able to imagine it. I didn’t imagine it for myself because I led a sheltered life of unknowing. Then I read a book by a black author in my teens, and he pulled me right into a scene where the main character was being chased by a vigilante group and dogs. It was such a powerful read that I threw the book out of my hands and cried hysterically. That was when I could feel it, really feel it.
Again Dawn, thanks for your thoughts on this volatile topic.