There was a shooting not long ago, and the judge has ruled that it was a hate crime. The shooter is a young man, not yet out of high school. He shot an African American student. There are many variations on the story going on, but today in the paper, there was a well written editorial by a pastor in the community. He talked about looking for the shadows within ourselves that have created such an environment...that we can't just lay it all on this young man's shoulders. We are all participants, that we in some way keep the problem going.
What makes it so difficult to see our differences and celebrate them...and then see what brings us together and celebrate our unity? What makes it so important to eradicate and destroy those who are different?
Caris: I like this very much, BUT .... My chief doubt lies in your identification of the victim as African American youth with no such identification of the perpetrator of the shooting. I wonder why? Is that one of the shadows within ourselves that we cannot see? I assumed it was a person of another race who saw the victima as of lesser value than himself.
ReplyDeleteHi John, thank you. Laziness on my part and perhaps it is more than that. Upstate New York is overwhelmingly "white." Thank you for calling me on this.
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