If you have been watching the news lately you may be outraged, hurt, confused, sadden, irritated, etc. at what has happened in Charlottesville and by how the President has responded to it. I know I am. This morning I listened to "The Ricky Smiley Show" and he was so upset with the things that have taken place and the response from Trump. I am as well. I then turn over to the "Bert Show" and hear Bert telling his frustration with what has happened as well and I too stand alongside him. Here are a Black man and White man both feeling hurt, mad, frustrated, sad, irritated, outraged with what has happened in our country. They both see the injustice and know that the response Trump gave is not what the country needed. As Bert said "Our Country needed a leader yesterday, but we didn't have one." My youngest son Caiden who is 9 years old has known from day one that Trump would not be a good fit as President. He says Trump has a potty mouth. I tend to agree and find it fitting that a 9 year old can know and understand more than a lot of adults do. Trump has sexualized women, diminished the value of life during the Orlando Night Club Shooting, and now here he is once again diminishing the value of lives by allowing these hate groups to still practice and cause harm to innocent people. Now before anyone comments and says well there were violent people on both sides, I agree with you. Some protestors take it too far, and fighting violence with violence is never the answer. However, killing someone or hurting someone because they look different than you, believe different than you, or act different than you is never the answer either. If the courts can prosecute a girl for sending texts messages to her boyfriend "to kill himself" and he in fact does it, then why can't these groups be held accountable for inciting violence and racism.
I used to believe that in this country if you worked hard enough that you could get anywhere you wanted to in life. I believed that your life depended on your actions alone and no one else's. It is becoming more evident in today's society that this in fact is not true for every American. I am biracial -- my mom is white and my dad is black. As a young child in kindergarten I went to a school in North Carolina where I believed it was not ok to be "Black". I was afraid to tell anyone that my dad was "Black". I told the teachers my dad was "white" and when he came to pick me up at school they refused to let him take me. My mom had to come get me. I as that little child felt scared because of ridicule from others about my fathers skin color. I now have 2 boys who have to grow up in this world. My oldest son has faced and continues to face racism. My children are biracial, however, that has not stopped kids from saying things like " I can't be your friend because you're black, " "my dad can beat your dad up," "you are a brownie," "my parents say I can't date someone who is black." I hurt for my oldest because he is a smart, intelligent, hard working, responsible, dependable, faithful, honest, encouraging, uplifting, young man but people will not give him a chance because of something God gave him and he can't change it. Nothing hurts more than knowing your child is hurting and there is nothing you can do to fix it. My son would treat any girl with respect and dignity and you would think that's what would be important to her parents but no the color of his skin makes them look at him differently. My mom dated white men and black men who both physical and emotionally abused her. There is the potential of evil in every living being. I will raise my sons to be respectful, loving, kind, generous, devoted, trustworthy, faithful, honorable, encouraging, strong, Christian men. They will not mistreat anyone because they know their parents will not stand for it. They will stand up for what's right because they know the trials their parents have faced and fought and won. They will know that there is evil in the world and the way to combat it is with love and the never ending cycle of raising children to see the world as it should be seen "we are all human beings and everyone deserves to be treated as such." I think our country is headed in the wrong direction and until leadership takes a stand and says bigotry and hatred from anyone will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted then the country will continue to divide. When will people awake and see that other countries hurting America is not the problem. The problem is here at home in our own country. We are killing each other and Trump doesn't take it personally. But let the so called "fake media" speak out about something he said and he jumps in defense mode. I'm sorry Mr. President when you took office you made a vow to do what's right for America. Dividing the country is not the way to make America Great Again. The morale to all of this is racism still exists today and its not just white and blacks it against everyone and until we (everyone) takes a stand for whats right and speak up when something wrong happens nothing will change.
