Scary world being scary at the moment ... I've been seeing what's been happening, reading and listening to the various people and thought I had to Say Things.
There's really scary things happening at the moment, not just virus related ! I'm very privileged. I'm a white male from a good background. I can walk the streets with very little fear. I rarely have to worry about suspicion that I'm up to no good. I can be out after dark on my own with no fears of being molested.
I am utterly shocked to the core when I hear that people will be subject to Stop and Search because of the colour of their skin. I'm devastated when ladies report how scared they are to be in situations where they are alone and a group of men suddenly appears. I don't have to be cautious with my body language when it comes to seeing people in enforcement, in case a sudden gesture ends up in an altercation.
What's terrible at the moment is the amount of racism (and many other isms) there is in the world at the moment. Our differences make us strong. They should not be something that sets us apart. And it's been going on so long, the shock factor has gone out from it.
We are no longer surprised when we hear that someone of colour has been shot or otherwise lost their life in a situation that should most definitely not have arisen. Like Breonna Taylor, the lady who was asleep in the apartment she owned when she was murdered by Police. Like George Floyd.
That's a terrible, horrible thing to contemplate. It means the -isms have gotten so deeply enrooted in a rotten society.
And that's not just America. It's over here as well with the bias in Stop and Search, in Windrush. It'll be in other countries too. It's probably in the country that you live in. Perhaps not as visible ... but I'm always sad when I see similar situations being reported in other countries.
People have been responding to the Black Lives Matter with All Lives Matter. And they do. My life matters to a few people. Your life matters. It matters to me. The lives of my family matters, the lives of my friends, colleagues and acquaintances. All of you matter.
But the Black Lives Matter cause is the important one at the moment and it will be until something changes. Until I heard the stories, I had no fears about traveling on public transport alone. I had no fear of being stopped and searched or thought of as a gang member up to no good. I can own my fancy car without someone thinking I stole it.
A person with black skin has to think very carefully about doing all of that and has had to for the last few hundred years.
That's wrong.
And now we hear the tales of how the Police over in the USA are handling the resulting protests. You'll have seen those stories as well, I'm not going to repeat them here except to say that it's not just over the top, they appear to have been inciting escalation as well.
There is no accountability.
I'm no particular fan of my own privileged background. I believe we should all be judged equally according to our merits on a level playing field. I don't see my background being the thing that opens the door. My knowledge and skills should be what does that. Similarly, I hate to see doors being shut for people on the basis of their colour, gender or upbringing.
We all have our own -isms. What we have to do is look inside ourselves. How do we react to other people. Are we giving them that level playing field. Have we assumed something that we shouldn't have, like do we think their merits are based on gender, orientation or colour.
I know I have my own unconscious biases that affect my thinking. You will too.
I could go into a few cases from my own life but the end thing of that is while I have helped in the past, I can help better in the future. We can all do better. None of us are perfect, we should always see if we can improve.
Like meeting someone at their place instead of a meeting halfway which would mean they're going to be walking the streets after dark. Yep, could have done that instead of hurriedly arranging a different meeting place (I like to give people the chance to rely on themselves - self reliance is very important). Like standing up for the lady at work who was being bullied (situation resolved now) but my honest thing there was that I was in a deep concentration tunnel and was completely oblivious to what was going on over the other side of the divider.
There was an incident where I was having a meal with someone in an open air place and across the way were two youngish men having a bit of a handbags fight. This was making the person I was with incredibly nervous. What I should have done was told her quietly that I was keeping my eye on what was going on, I wasn't going to do anything that provoked an escalation, I was trusting the (very beefy) security guy to control the situation and my last resort would have been to put me between her and them. I think saying that would have done a lot to ease her anxiety. I stayed quiet. I'll say something next time.
What happened in the past though isn't important though. You can hold up a flag and say "I helped there !" but that's not enough. It's how we go forward, that's what counts.
Help people.
Support people.
Ditch your -isms.
Recognise difference as strength, not a root for your insecurity.
I think I've run out of steam there. Back later this week with something more like normal service but I will leave with a couple of things :
If speaking up makes you anxious, stay quiet. I'm seeing a lot of "If you don't post with us, you're against us" at the moment which I am vehemently opposed to. Some people are very anxious about speaking up because it can make them a target. I don't want to be a target and I bet you don't either. People who know you should know you well enough to know where you stand on issues like these, without having to shout it from the rooftops every time a cause comes along.
If you can change things by voting, PLEASE VOTE. Things like this don't happen on their own, they happen with direction from above. Get someone in place who will hold these people accountable.
Offer support, not judgment.
Judge people on who they are, not what they are.
Be calm, not aggressive.
Stay safe, be calm, be well.
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