Whose Life Matters?

Whose life matters? This questions seems to be at the forefront of EVERYTHING right now. On one hand the conversation has been started, and that is always a good thing... but on the other hand, the anger has started to flow from both sides of the issue and in today's day and age of social media and instant communication that can be more harmful than good. I will try to keep my thoughts organized, but I make no promises.

Now, let me take a second to address a few things. First... I assume that if your last name does not start with J or W you are probably here by mistake, and I appreciate you reading this all the same. I do not assume that my opinion carries significant weight or that everyone is entitled to my opinion. I know that I am wrong as much, if not more, than right. And I promise that I am far more interested in having a conversation about this subject than I am having a bunch of people "like" my words or justify their own opinions because I also share their views. Now... on to the reason for this post.

Lately I have been emotionally strained every time I turn on the news or log into social media. The stuff that has been making news infuriates me. I have grown up around people in uniform. I remember the day in 4th grade when my best friend's dad retired as a contractor and joined the Harbor Police. I remember watching in horror as my best friend's little brother was attacked by his neighbor's police dog because we were mistaken for the training simulation it had undergone earlier that day. I remember watching soldier after soldier salute the truck I was in as I drove with my friend and his Marine Corps General father through the base they lived on. I remember placing a bullet proof vest over my head when the father of one of my students talked to our small group about what it REALLY felt like to need armor on your body just to do your job.  I remember watching countless friends of mine crossing the Atlantic to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. I remember hearing the worry and strain in the voice of one of the most important women in my life when she told me her husband was joining the police force, and that our immediate family would now be emotionally responsible for all that comes with being a Blue Family. All of these men and women willingly and voluntarily put themselves into a category of Warriors that places themselves between me and evil on a daily basis, and I can never express the depth of my gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

Now... most of these stories and people are from my childhood in sunny southern California. San Diego, in particular, is a very diverse city. Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Mexicans, Chaldeans, Persians, Asians, Indians, etc, etc, etc, etc. (if I have offended you with the "grouping" of your race/ethnicity I apologize and I am open to hearing a better way to describe large groups of similar people). This diversity obviously leads to some exclusion, some humor at the expense of others, and definitely some overt racism and bigotry. I assume, knowing what I know now, that it was probably a lot worse than I ever experienced, but I digress from my original point. The point is...when I moved to the South 8 years ago my world was rocked. I saw true racism... racism seeded deep into the roots of social protocol. Racism in the White community, Black community and every other community that is represented. To say that I had ANY understanding of what my black friends here had ever experienced would be an offense. We moved here in 2009 and I have personally witnessed students transferring schools because their parents wouldn't let their son play for a black coach. I have heard numerous athletes and students call people "ni****s" without batting an eye. I have actually had an argument with students in my Econ class where they argued that Black people were better off as slaves because the years after emancipation were so difficult that their lives would have been better if they had just remained the LEGAL PROPERTY of another human being. These conversations are not from a history book... This is todays young generation, a small sample size to be sure, and the hate and division is real... very real.

So, why do I write these two very different paragraphs? I am ANGRY, that's why. I am so pissed off on a nightly basis that I find myself being short with my own family because I have nowhere to vent my frustration. People are ATTACKING men in uniform... Men and Women that I love... Men and Women that are as close to me as family and that makes me want to hurt someone. It infuriates me... it puts me on edge in a way I have never experienced.

On top of that... Some of my best friends and students are scared to walk down the street because of the actions of a few selfish, misguided, bigoted officers that have helped to create a barriers between good cops and the people they are sworn to protect. People I love are being mistreated, labeled and singled out.

Before I go any further I want you to know that I will not be hash-tagging any movement... including "all lives matter"... because I am not interested in furthering agendas or joining hand in hand with people that I do not know or that I do not see eye to eye with. Do I believe that all lives matter... YES. I have to. God COMMANDS it! We are all created in HIS IMAGE and for that reason alone we are all supposed to treat each other as image-bearers of God. We were created and placed in a world by a loving God... but things are not as they OUGHT to be. Sin showed up... hateful, vile, disgusting sin that turns us, as brothers and sisters, against one another and makes it near impossible to see each others plight. Soooo....

If you have never experienced the emotions that come along with sending a family member to war (foreign or domestic) and worrying every night whether they will come home or not... then listen to someone who has!

If you have never had to watch your black friend sit quietly and peacefully while he was told he and his "ni****" friends are what's wrong with this country... then listen to someone who has!

If you have an opinion that causes more division and less harmony... keep it to yourself!!!

If you have nothing positive to say and refuse to listen to others no matter how rational they might be... you are the problem!

If you are unwilling to separate the vast majority of law abiding citizens of a certain color and instead focus only on those who break the law, continuing a long line of bigotry and hatred... you are the problem!

If you refuse to see the fact that 99.99% of police officers across the nation are amazing humans and sacrificial servants, and that only a small few are "bad apples"... you are the problem!


The fact is this... there are some racist, deplorable police officers who need to have their badges stripped and jobs taken away... but they are the minority.  And in the same light, there are some people of color who break laws and resist and act a fool... and that will never end well.

The problem that I see is an unwillingness to see beyond the scope of our own experience.

     - I have ONLY experienced racists cops, so they all must be and anyone who says different is an            ignorant racist.

     - Black people are ALWAYS committing crimes, they probably deserve to be profiled

     - I have never seen black people treated poorly so they must be making it up and just looking for          handouts.

     - This cop over here killed an unarmed black man, so ALL cops probably want to kill unarmed              black men.

      - Etc, etc, etc.


Can we all PLEASE realize that we come from 50 very different states that are all broken down into even more different and diverse communities. NONE of us has had the same upbringing and we need to share and talk and love and pray for each other in this time of trials. If you pretend to know the pain of someone else and use that false understanding to belittle their feelings, than you are wrong. I have never walked the streets as an African American man, so if I try to tell one that what he is feeling is or isn't real... well, that just makes me an idiot. My perspective is not his, and I cannot even begin to empathize with what his life might be like. So, I am going to avoid trying to.

Here are the facts... people are angry! So angry that we are acting in ways that are not at all in line with our typical personalities. Emotions run high when people that we care about are threatened, and emotions run even higher when we are told that the emotions we are feeling are somehow wrong or unjustified! If your emotion boils over into a fit of rage that carries you to take actions that end the lives of innocent men and women... well, I hope you receive the death penalty. If your emotion boils over into a fit of rage that makes you want to riot and destroy property... then I hope you get arrested and go to jail. If your emotion boils over into a fit of rage that puts you and your friends in the street blocking traffic peacefully until your otherwise voiceless community is heard... well, I can't fault you for that, but you should still probably receive a traffic citation.

I guess my whole rant comes down to this... please make sure that we are not spreading more hate and division amongst our friend groups. Make sure that we are always looking at ways to solve the problem, while truly taking other people's feelings and histories into account. And please make sure you are praying for this situation and that the leadership of our country can find a way to get outside of the politics of the situation and look for real solutions to this issue.

I hope this rant makes sense... if not disregard.