PRAY FOR AMERICA—SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT VIOLENCE
Dr. Martin L. King once said, “an eye for an eye makes two people blind. Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can. Let us stand together in love and unity.” Those words are still appropriate today. We must stop the violence in America. We must all pray for peace and understanding in America.
My heart was breaking when I saw the pictures of the Blacks that were killed. I was in absolute horror when I saw the police firing back against a sniper in Dallas. My brother-in law was a principal but retired as a police officer. His son is a firefighter. I have divided loyalties. A lot of Americans have divided loyalties. However, there are two things that we know for sure. A civilized society cannot function without a police force and a military. Murder of anyone for any reason can never be condoned. We are human beings and not animals.
My dad used to say when I was angry about something, “there are two sides to everything. Try to look at the other side.” I tried to do that in the two photos. The first photo had a man held on the ground and in handcuffs or certainly retrained, shot to death for no apparent reason. The scene was chilling. The second photo and video showed a Black man shot to death in a routine traffic stop. The video told more. The officer was at his wits end. He was agitated and terrified. Why? What did he fear? Why did he shoot. One picture shows possible depraved heart murder. The other picture shows a police officer over his head, agitated and frightened. He clearly needed training or he needed time off. He was not in a proper mental state to be on the job. In my early days as a social worker I did diversity training for police officers and family court in Pontiac, Michigan. My presentation was always on “How to Work With the Culturally Different.” I am wondering at this time if the police are being properly trained. Additionally, there are factors which are contributing to the climate of distrust.
The first factor that contributed to this condition in the country is the legal system. The United States Supreme Court told the poor in its rulings: Find your justice in the streets, the courts are closed to you. People lost hope. When people lose hope in the system, they take matters into their own hands. Thus people began to seek or dispense their own justice. People perceive the system as rigged and unfair. There is little trust and integrity in the system. Additionally, the police no longer appear to care about your issues. This happens in some areas more than others. For example, in Houston, Texas the police told people they were not going to investigate or prosecute burglaries. Burglaries increased exponentially. Victims were terrorized and felt unprotected.
The second factor is the mental health of the people. I have seen the mental health system go from too much money to not enough. I have seen hospitals close all over this country and HMO’s develop where only companies get rich and the people who need treatment do not get treatment. Some states closed children and adolescent facilities altogether. Fewer people who need it get mental health treatment. We used to have free mental health clinics in every section of a city. People could get free medication. Drug companies assisted in providing free medication to people who could not afford it. There are fewer clinics now and little money to provide needed services.
The third factor is guns. The conflict between my best friend and her husband highlight the issue. My friend’s husband feels that if people had guns, they could have killed the shooter in Florida before he killed so many people. My friend feels that we have reached a stage when some of our freedom must be curtailed for safety. Background checks have holes in which people can still get guns even if they were just released from a mental hospital. They might have a clean criminal record. No one needs assault weapons which shoot twenty or thirty bullets. You can have and keep the second amendment by allowing people to have hand guns or weapons for hunting. Assault weapons should not be so plentiful and easy to obtain. In the last ten years, I have been terrorized almost daily by someone who has stolen everything I hold dear. My home has been burglarized several times a week. The answer would seem to be for me to get a weapon to protect myself. I am afraid of weapons because they raise the level of violence. At some point, if the system does not protect you, you feel you must protect yourself.
The fourth factor is lack of trust and respect for each other and our property. I lived in the Black community for a time. There is no Black community anymore. The feeling of family, values and community that my parents taught me no longer exist. We no longer teach the rules of survival that our parents taught us. We think we have overcome and we have not. Our Black children think they are colorless. This is leading to their deaths. Society has not changed that much.
All of these factors along with other changes in society have caused an unrest. We need to calm down and do an assessment before we act. There is one thing I know. God loves us and all human life is too precious to lose. God loves the police. They are too precious to lose. God loves Black men. They are too precious to lose. The senseless killings for any reason must stop. What we are seeing is classic transferred intent. A is angry with B and he shoots C. C has done nothing to provoke his anger and does not know him. C is innocent. A and B need to engage in a conversation and resolve their differences. I think it is time for everyone to pray. Pray for the country and for each other and understanding. God bless America and her people. Let’s start a conversation so that we can join hands in unity and love. Something has to change.
