Tough Times

These are some tough times for a lot of people right now, but a couple of specific people I want to write about today:

Ahmaud Arbery - Black man, killed while out for a run, while the whole thing was recorded.  The only reason why the shooters were arrested was because the video was eventually circulated online, causing outrage.  Without that, the two men (along with the person recording it) would have likely never been considered to have committed a crime.

George Floyd - Black man, killed by police, in broad daylight, on camera. The story is that he tried to use a forged cheque at a grocery store so police were called.  Even if that was true, and I have no idea, being choked to death by the police is not a proportionate response, and would have been unlikely to happen if it was a white man (and unlikely the police would have been called in the first place).

Regis Korchinski-Paquet - Black woman, fell to her death from an apartment building in my neighbourhood.  The police have said she committed suicide, her family says she was pushed by police.  We do not know the answers yet but in any event it is a tragedy that ended with the death of a black woman and the police are involved.

Christian Cooper - Black man, threatened with police by white woman in Central Park.  This did not end his death, but we have seen this story play out so many times that had it progressed to that, it would not have surprised anyone.

(and there are so many more names...)

Why does this keep happening?  What needs to change so that a black man can go for a run, or speak up to a white woman to put her dog on a leash, without the fear of death?  These sound like stories from the Deep South of the United States in the early 1900s, not 2020 in the Northern States and Canada.  Racism runs deep and we cannot ignore it.  Those suffering from it can certainly not ignore it.

Sometimes I feel like I can't get into the dark stuff because it's too much, and self-preservation is a real thing, but it's also incredibly insensitive and plain lazy of me to do that too.  As a white, straight, well-off person, it is very easy for me to just float through life turning away from real injustices because they don't directly affect my daily life. But it is exactly this privilege that requires me to say something.  I do my best to expose myself to different points of view, different cultures where I can learn something, by reading and through my Twitter and Instagram follows, but there will always be more that I can do, and more you can do. If we can remind ourselves to never stop questioning things and never completely shut ourselves off from the bad things, then we can do some good, and be part of the solution.

The other day I was reminded that the sun is always shining even when you can't see it, whether it is nighttime where you are, or if it is cloudy above you, the sun is always beyond that, shining and infinite.  The same is true for God, He is always with you even if it seems like things are so terrible and so impossible. His love is always there for you to turn to.