The Next Time I Opened My Eyes
The other night, my younger son was saying how he fell asleep really fast after watching Star Wars, A New Hope, because he was so tired, and that "the next time he opened his eyes," it was morning. And I was trying to remember a night where I fell asleep and then didn't wake up ONCE during the night.
I couldn't remember the last time that happened. Maybe it's when you have kids that that stops. Or maybe it's when you're a kid yourself, if you live in constant fear of something in your life.
I showed my sons the George Floyd video yesterday for lots of reasons:
1. I couldn't stop thinking about it and didn't feel like acting jolly around them.
2. I felt like they are old enough at least to begin to understand that it was WRONG.
3. I wanted to talk about it with them.
4. I wanted them to start to understand that being Black in our country is VERY different from being white.
5. I wanted them to understand that in some neighborhoods here in Las Vegas and across the country, there are scenes like what happened to Georg Floyd EVERY DAY, outside of apartment windows, on busy streets in front of convenience stores. Scenes that kids that are my own kids' age see and witness and have to live with and fear that the same thing will happen to them. Scenes that KIDS don't have a choice to NOT SEE.
After watching the video, Simon (7) said if it weren't for the coronavirus, that he and his buddies Connor and Adam would have gone over to that cop and pushed him away so that George Floyd could have some space.
Zac (12) was quiet and listened when I used the phrase "white privilege." I told him that as a young white man, how much POWER he will have in this society. I explained to him that I want NOTHING MORE than for my two white, male kids to grow up to be people who understand history, who are compassionate, empathetic, and who will ALWAYS take action and stand up for what is right.
IT ISN'T ENOUGH.
It is one conversation.
I hate that people are passing around screenshots of fake Twitter posts saying that "they" are gonna loot "our" neighborhoods. My librarian, spidey-sense tells me that that's all bullshit and bots meant to stir up fears, meant to continue to pit race against race.
As long as it is "them" and "us," then George Floyd's death (not to mention Ahmaud Arbery, Amy Cooper, Breonna Taylor...and Philando Castile, Sandra Blank, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Rodney King, and the MILLIONS of others who have been murdered and oppressed) and all of the protesting that has followed over the last couple of days as a result has all been for NOTHING and NOTHING will change.
As long as we are divided on what the conversation should be about at this point, NOTHING will change.
It's NOT "Looting is wrong, don't you agree, how dare 'they'"?
It's "RACISM IS WRONG. PERIOD."
Comments
Post a Comment