Enough is enough

Please forgive me, in advance, for the rant I am about to go on. There are just a few things I feel very strongly about and I feel a need to get them off my chest. This is still a free country, so you are free to quit reading this at any time. I will not be offended if you exercise your right to read something else, more interesting or less irritating (depending on your perspective). Feel free to respond with as many negative comments as you want. You have a right to do so under the first amendment and I promise not to take offense as long as you are expressing a sincere opinion or belief...

Having said that, let me get started with the rant. I want to make three points that I feel strongly about and hope you will take a moment to consider.

1. America, from the beginning, was a racist nation. Before we can even begin to heal over two centuries of hurt, we need to admit to ourselves that we took men and women against their will from their homes (or paid others to take them), brought them here, sold them like cattle and forced them to work against their will for no wages so we could could profit from their labors. Our founding fathers were slave owners. The Civil War was about slavery, plain and simple, and any other excuses we may make are just that: excuses. When the framers of the constitution wrote "All Men are created equal" they meant "all heterosexual male white land owners are created equal to English Royalty". They were referring to themselves vs. English Aristocracy and were not, in their minds including slaves or non land owners in the class "men".

This should not have been an acceptable attitude then, it certainly is not acceptable now. We should be embarrassed and ashamed that in the year 2020, almost 250 years since the founding of our country, 155 years since the end of the Civil War, and 59 years since the Freedom Bus Rides there is still an ugly streak of racism that has been hiding among us like a Herpes virus waiting for an opportunity to erupt yet again to create sores and scars across our land. This ugly and cowardly contagion is manifested not just toward our black brothers and sisters who are descended from the slaves we abducted, but to every person with a little extra pigment who is coming from or has already come from somewhere other than Northern Europe.

We have talked about it and hoped things would magically change for long enough. Now, it is time to act. Unless and until we do more than just talk about it, nothing will change.

Here is what I am doing... I am volunteering with a program that gives underprivileged high-school students an opportunity to learn fundamentals of Computer Science, allowing them to compete on a more equal footing in college classes and the job market with those of us who through no fault of our own, other than the accident of our birth or some lucky break in the past, have done well in life. When I meet, work with, or interact in any way with someone who may have darker skin than mine, have a sexual orientation other than my own, be here on a visa, has recently immigrated to the US, or is a new citizen, I welcome them and treat them with the same respect that I hope to receive. And finally, I am asking my friends what I can do better. What have they seen me do or heard me say that I may not have realized was not respectful or maybe even offensive. And, if they call something out, I will not make an excuse. I will change my behavior.

2. I am a Vietnam era vet. I joined the Coast Guard and was never in a conflict, but believe me when I say that being in a storm in the middle of the Bearing Sea with cracks in our own hull while continuing to search for someone else who is in trouble is plenty scary. I will never forget what it feels like to be afraid and keep going out to do what I said I would do. I remember what it feels like to think "this will be the day I die". 

So, it offends me deeply when someone who spent zero days in service to our country says that I or any of my fellow veterans or brothers or sisters still serving are low lifes or fools or in any way denigrates us for our service. We voluntarily chose a low paying and dangerous job out of a sense of duty to our country, and regardless of our politics, current employment status, sexual orientation, religion, or any other thing you may not agree with, we deserve a little respect and recognition for the service we gave. We can not continue to say "Thank you for your service" with our lips while all our other actions say "please take your PTSD and go some place else where I do not have to see it". We can not continue to allow veterans to be jobless and/or homeless when they return.

Here is what I am doing... When I meet a vet, I thank him or her for their service. I also ask if there is anything I can do for them. I have brought more than one homeless vet home to live with me while he got back on his feet. I advocate for them on the job. I look around my company for opportunities that a newly returning vet might be qualified to do and I put them in contact with someone who might help them get that job. In short, I treat them like I meant it when I thanked them for their service. 

3. And finally, We have come to a place in the US where we never have to listen to an opinion we do not already agree with. We avoid any information contrary to what we want to believe, treat opinion as fact, and call facts "fake" when we don't like them. The US became a great nation because we found ways to compromise with each other and worked together for the common good. Even when we did not agree, we at least listened. I remember my parents telling us "we don't discuss politics at the dinner table because we may not all agree and there is no need for friction". They did not say "we do not eat dinner with or even associate with those evil people who do not agree with us".

Unless we want even more strife and bigger problems than we already have, we must find some way to accept that it is OK to have a different opinion. We must to find some way to work together again. We have to start looking for the things we agree upon rather than allowing the things we do not agree about to dominate every conversation, every news cycle, and every moment of every day. Divided, we will fall and the United States will become irrelevant (and with good reason). Or, even worse, we will talk our way into yet another Civil War. Do we really want that?

Here is what I am doing... In addition to the news channels I agree with, I intentionally, and with an open mind, listen to the ones I don't agree with. I allow myself the luxury of changing my mind about something I believed when something else makes more sense, regardless of who said it. I may not agree with you, but I do agree that you have a right to be heard. And, whether or not I have agreed with you in the past, I will allow you to persuade me with any facts or moral arguments (not opinions) you can bring to the table.

To My friends who are reading this:

Will you please join me? We do not have to agree. We do not have to march lock step in the same direction. But please, will you join with me to try and make a difference? Will you help by making, and acting upon, a plan to actually do something tangible that will contribute to helping us heal and live up to our best and noblest ideals rather than letting our lowest and basest instincts rule? 

My father once told me a joke "Question: how many counselors does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: just one, but the light bulb really has to want to change". Do you want something better? Are you willing to entertain the possibility of a better world for our children? Let's work together for a real change.