FOr, as far as I can remember, I felt stuffy expectations. This is an understood command that America believes to be wonderful. If I couldn't see this country as great, I must be a dissatisfied traitor. If we didn't see any remarkable progress in America, how did it fix the mistake of ultimately enslaving others? How it bent backwards to think about the race of college admission — I must be a spoiled cynic.
The Fire Next Time,James Baldwinresponded to allegations of racism by saying, "Howbitteryou." You are exaggerating. "My personal chorus began in adolescence with some of my white companions, and supported by a whitewashed history book, shouted:See how far we have come. At least you are not in Insert Developing Countries. There is no country like us.
This Independence Day is the last line I believe.
I don't have the space for this article, nor the energy of my soul to list all the reasons we are exceptional. Also,I can't. Because there are new examples and reasons for tomorrow or next. Day. (This is the heart of the problem.) You can't even rank the reasons. In countries where "all humans are made equal,"hate crimes against Asian Americans,a ban on erasing words from our libraries and lexicons, andThe mortality rate of black motherswill definitely worsen as five Supreme Court judgestold us that physical autonomy was not really correct. There is only a layer of injustice, and ourhealthcareandhousingsystems count and modify my people as fractions in our constitution. The most respected document, as if it didn't have to be. It is not possible to prioritize how many of us are consumables. Look, a new tragedy can happen and sink your entire mind in a second, whether it shocks you or not.
As a nation, we cannot stop and we cannot stop ourselves with pride. We are slow to get away from sin. Refuse to trade gunsor privilege or freedom. Perhaps we can't admit that we're not great and never before.
In May, we were all given10 days. After a white supremacist drove towards a target and shot down a black shopper in Buffalo, NY, I stepped into a grocery store for 10 days and took a bottle of watermelon and peppers. I took a deep breath. Tell yourself, "You can't avoid every store." 10 days wondering if living in a white college town would protect or expose my family. Lucky people who are still alive may find it helpful to eradicate it, or at least monitor it, by listening to theGreat Replacement Theorypodcast and identifying its roots. Can be pretended to be. (Trageously, I quickly learned too much about the difference between eliminating threats and monitoring from the outside.)
Church mothers bought fresh spring rolls and apples, and others It took me 10 days to imagine feeding people. On Saturday, our Elder Queen, like her Lord, broke bread in the middle of a food desert. For 10 days, they rewrote the story of thevictimsand determined that the tops friendly market grocery store was unobtrusive, not worth the time, and was eating butter and potatoes. I was able to plan the day. You can wait for the shopping list. What a terrible use of our imagination!
Read more:"I'm sorry. I got your sister." Family sadness after the shooting of Buffalo
As a country, we may consider repairs, but repentance means "turn your back." And why do white conservatives turn away from their power, freedom and privilege? There is no reasonable reason for them to let go. It must be spiritual, moral and ethical.AbortionorA space reserved for tired discussions about critical race theory, neither of which is a concept that can be accurately defined.
Therefore, within 10 days of the tragedy in Buffalo,children at the end of the summer in Uvalde, Texas,hide in 911, call, wait and bleed. Did. classroom. The two teachers who took care of them also died.
How much does it cost to admit that we are not great?
As a mother, and as a mother of black children, one statistic is constantly looping in my head:Guns are the main cause of deathChildren in this country. It is unlikely that we stopped everything and made the sun and moon stationary until this was not true. Instead, after the shooting, the flag is temporarily lowered to a half-mast, but the manwho protests and lowers his body to one knee loses his job forever. If you don't ban assault rifles and the song written by the slave owner is too valuable to bear on your knees, can you fly at least all the flags with a half-mastuntil the shootings stop?
I'm not pretending to have all the answers. In fact, until the massacre in Yuvarde, the brightest idea to protect my children was to buy each one a phone. That is not rational. It is the mother's tired plea.
You might say that change is coming to me, and I don't hold it against you. President Biden signed the first major federal gun safety lawin decades, and if that arrangement saves lives, Armen. But it's clear that this law is less than we need. In this country, the fact that the freedom of certain people is more important than others is a small step forward that does not really address the core of the problem. Otherwise, the NRA would have voiced after police killed Philland Castile. How can Philland Castile teach children to celebrate a small "victory"a black man who had permission to carry a gun? Now when we can do more to protect them. Moreare taking place in other countriesAre you grateful for the small possibility that this deal will prevent future genocide?
Read more:'There is emptiness. 'The great-grandfather of Lexirubio, the victim of the Yuvalde shooting, remembers her ten-year life
He warned against it, but I heard Baldwin's words. increase. "Don't accept anyone's words, including me, but trust your experience," he wrote to his nephew. In my experience, America is, above all, extraordinary in its commitment to gas lamps. Under the banner of equality and democracy, a country that is willing to invade and exploit marginal people, cast shadows, deprive them of their long-standing rights, and question others. A country with a record like us should dream of becoming decent rather than claiming its greatness.
However, if you understand the AR-15 as "God's perfect armor" and need to wave the parade and flag, answer at least one question directly before lighting the grill. I can agree with you. Stock the cooler. Whether we are kneeling or standing with our hands on our hearts, can we agree to consider the following: And once you know the true horror and depth of the answer, and how it exposes the darkness we rather don't want to see, remember what the Bible says about the man who went away looking in the mirror, Immediately I forgot the shape of his face. The man was neither blessed nor great. He appears in the text as a warning that clearly reminds us of what happens when we know the truth and do nothing about it.
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