This Week in America

This has been an extremely intense week.

I’m working to catch up at on the job. I have my regular church schedule. My gym schedule was messed up because they were closed on the 4th of July. That’s always a humongous letdown. Then I have to figure out how to get all of my lifts in within a short amount of days. That more than likely means a longer time at the gym, but I can handle that. Life, in general, has been kind of hectic.

For all the reasons this week has been intense, none of it matched the emotional rollercoaster of the national news. Follow the timeline.

July 5, 2016 – Alton Sterling is shot and killed by Officer Blane Salamoni and Officer Howie Lake II. Video of the encounter goes viral sparking outrage and protests.

July 6, 2016 – Philando Castile is killed by an officer from the St. Anthony’s Police Department in Falcon Heights, MN. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, live streamed the aftermath of the shooting on facebook.

July 7, 2016 – Twelve Dallas Police Department officers were shot at a Black Lives Matter protest. Five were killed. Videos of the encounter quickly went viral. Micah Xavier Johnson was named as a suspect. It was rumored 3-4 more shooters were involved in the attack. Johnson was killed after a firefight with the police.

Racial tensions in American were already boiling over. The past three days feel like an emotional bomb was dropped on the heart of the country. I watched two men dying in real life on the internet. Literally.  I watched Alton Sterling’s son lose it on national TV wailing for his dad. My heart broke, and I cried with him. I watched Diamond Reynolds hold her composure while her boyfriend was dying in the passenger’s seat; her four-year-old consoling her in the back seat. I watched Dallas Police Officers lying in the street after gunshots rang out. I watched parents of civilians and officers alike try to cope with the loss of their kids. I watched the internet explode with ugly feelings and hatred in their heart.

It’s been an intense week.

It seems as though an epidemic with black men being shot by the police is becoming more prevalent in America. Conversely, hatred for the police is at an all-time high. Every time a black male is killed by the cops, the story catches traction in the mainstream media and it’s off to the races.

The full out, horribly despicable side of Americans rears its ugly head. Fear and hatred grip the land. Lines are drawn and conversations turn into fierce wars of the same emotions. People are passionate to a fault. Eventually, the pandemonium settles down and we return to regular life.

The are so many circumstances to consider. So many discussions need to take place.

As I’m writing this, I’m reflecting on several conversations I had via social media. Honestly, very few of them were productive. Most were filled with anger from one person to another. Thus, nothing was heard. I heard about the racist terror group, Black Lives Matter. Black on black crime was brought up too many times to count. I was called all types of coons, negropeans (This made me laugh), and Uncle Toms. All of that hatred was directed towards me because I care about people.

There is a clear divide in our country.

Joe Walsh openly threatens war on the President of the United States. Tomi Lahren compares Black Lives Matter to the KKK. Mark Dayton, Governor of Minnesota, candidly states Castile might be alive if he were white. Protests pop up in several different cities. One protest turns deadly towards the very people protecting the protesters. Police vs Community. Community vs Community. Race vs. Race. Intrarracial squabbling. Internet squabbling.

It’s been an incredibly intense week.

I really believe we are living in the 1960s all over again minus the Jim Crow laws. The people of today are fighting perceptions. Whether you’re a cop, White, Black, Asian, Mexican, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern, we all asking not to be grouped. However, the same hatred from the era of the Civil Rights Movement abounds today. It manifests itself in different ways, but the mindset is still the same.

Love is the answer to cure all of this. Let me rephrase. Jesus is the answer to cure all of this. So, when are we going to stop fighting, and let God fix it?

We need to turn our hearts, collectively as a country, back to Him.

This week has been a lot. I pray blessings upon each of you. We will get through this as long as we have love in our hearts along the way.

With All Love,

A Fresh Voice

 

[Image Credit Flickr via Mike Tigas]