Wednesday, April 14, 2021

I Need a Sign

I was able to feel comfortable for about a month and a half. That's how long it took the media to gear back up and decide to begin anew its rounds of horrific news.

Or maybe that's how long it took the news to become horrific again. Because we sent the children back to school, and the shootings started.

We've opened up the restaurants, and the Covid numbers rise.

The prejudice, bigotry, and hatred received a shot in the arm when the media reported on the former guy's vitriol at some Republican conference over the weekend. White supremacy still exists. Videos of Karens and Kooky Kens still pop up in my social media feeds. Don't these people ever tire of being mad, angry, and hateful?

I like nice. I like calm. I like quiet. A little peace goes a long way.

As a former news reporter, I find it difficult to ignore the news, to be uninformed, to not know what is going on around me.

Some days, though, I think being an ostrich would be a good thing. I know people who don't read the newspaper, who don't watch the TV news, who have no clue what is going on (although many of these people do seem to watch mostly FAUX news, so there's that. They're generally the angry ones.). 

I try to check out all sides of issues. I watch snippets of Tucker Carlson on FAUX, even. He's just a mouth with an opinion, but many people seem to take his opinion as fact, so I listen to see what his problem is. He's like a thorn on a dying rose. He's pretty to look at, but nothing but prickles underneath.

I don't watch the news channels, except for the local news and occasionally CBS evening news. I read the local papers, the New York Times, the Guardian, The Atlantic, and other sources for news and opinions. I'd rather read than listen to the irritating grunts of talking heads.

Racism is a big question for me. Am I racist? I'm sure I am. I suspect everyone is to some degree. But to what degree? I'm not sure. I don't go around making a big deal out of different races, or call people names. Frequently I don't notice color. In my video games, nobody knows who is what race, sometimes not even what gender, because we all go by made-up names. We also don't talk politics at all, and so that's a good getaway for me. Do I imagine that I'm playing with people of all races? I hope so. But I don't know. We talk about the game and sometimes the weather.

The Blacks are again marching in Minnesota because once again a police officer shot a Black man. In Virginia, my lovely state, two police officers pulled over a military lieutenant who was black, handcuffed him and pepper sprayed him, and one of the officers has lost his job over this man's treatment. I don't know why this keeps happening.

Many people believe, myself among them, that if the rioters on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol had been mostly Black instead of white, they'd have been mowed down with guns the moment they stepped over some unspecified line.

This world has always been full of turmoil and hatred. Humanity is full of strife. It does not stop from generation to generation. It may change form, but it doesn't go away. 

I'd like to think we're evolving into a better form of human, but the evidence indicates we're walking backwards, not forward.

De-evolving, as it were.

I'd like a sign that shows me I'm wrong in feeling so despairing about the state of this country and the world.


3 comments:

  1. I know what you mean Anita and it really got to me before. So I try to stay off the news as much as I can. As a grandmother to a half black grandchildren, it breaks my heart. We were moving forward and in the last few year, I have seen so much hate. It really saddens me. I was raised to believe that God loved all the children of all colors. But sadly, they don't all love each other. When I worked at a preschool back in the 80's while in college, kids played with each other in spite of colors. They hugged and laughed together. But a few kids said means things to other kids and I am sure they just didn't think of it. I believe that racism is taught. I try not to group people into categories but I do look at how individuals act and hear what they say. I try to be positive. There are good people out there. Don't lose heart Anita. Hugs!♥

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  2. I keep reminding myself: it's not like a switch was flipped in November. Joe Biden won by 6 million votes, which is verifiable fact and a wide margin, and means that more of us want peace and inclusion than chose chaos and division.

    But it will take time. The United States is a big ship and it takes time to turn this vessel around.

    I recently watched The Trial of the Chicago 7. I was a little girl in the 1960s and those turbulent years marked me as surely as the (original) vaccination scar on my left arm. We got through that. We'll get through this. I know it in my heart.

    Also, watch corporate America. The GOP depends on PACs more than the Democrats do. Coca-Cola and Delta are the tip of the iceberg. January 6 and the Georgia voting law have had a big impact on board rooms, greater than I've seen in my career. Maybe Donald Trump can raise funds from small donors, but most other Republicans cannot -- and if they think Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1 is going to share with them when he has legal bills looming, I predict they will sorely disappointed. Money matters, so stay tuned.

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  3. I feel you. It's horrifying what's happening around, and you don't understand why people treat people they way they do. Over at my side of the world, my kiddo came home last week from school carrying a heavy bag of all his textbooks saying that was in case they'd have to go back to online classroom next week. A parent was exposed to someone who tested positive and it's panic mode again. Oh, God help us all.

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