The "WHAT IF" Game

You know this game, some of us, all too well and then there are those of us who have played it so well, they have earned a gold medal in this event. I must admit at one time in my life I was a contender for the silver. Since February 26th, 2012, I am certain that Trayvon Martin's parents played that game, and if George Zimmerman is at all paying attention to the guttural reaction he has brought upon himself (playing hero only find himself the villain), he too is playing that game. Sadly, there is only cold comfort to be found when we ask ourselves the "WHAT IF'S" in our lives. 

Now some of you may find that statement somewhat poignant, but I am trying to pass on a lesson here. We cannot change whatever it is that we are what if-ing, what we can change is where we go from now. The other day while we were contemplating why; (a sibling of what if); a young man had to be taken and why in an age when this country has it's first Black President we still suffer racism. Someone I follow on Twitter repeated something that stuck with me. 

(Twitter Feed) Rev Run  Look on the BRIGHT side of things.. CONSTANTLY.......

I thought on it for a while, where was the BRIGHT side in Trayvon's death? I pondered this idea for a long time. Then I asked my 18 year old daughter what she thought the BRIGHT side might be. Her response was a flat "nothing". Then the mother in me was compelled to show her that there was one, after all how could I send her back into the world tomorrow without it? That is when it came to me. This horrible tragic act brought forth a LONG overdue conversation, better than that, it compelled people to re-examine how they view others, and maybe finally truly address the issue of race in America.

We have talked about it on occasion, then we all went back to business as usual. Today, tonight and hopefully tomorrow across dinner tables, in lunchroom and around the water cooler, people are and will be talking about racism. Some may be negative and some may think that we are making way too much of this, yet there is conversation taking place.

What we as a nation must come to grips with is that we aren't color blind, society doesn't allow for it. We kid ourselves when we say our children do not see color and they will be the generation that will not suffer the way the ones preceding them had. Let us look at a few truths, the media, society and other ills will, unfortunately, slowly change their perceptions. Another truth is that unlike my generation, our children are far from the Civil Rights Movement. I can recall the riots, and protests of re-busing by mothers not wanting Black students to be taken in what had been a predominantly White schools. This is not the memories of our children, but the history they learn in text books, making it removed from them.

So the final truth is this; the foundation has been laid. The Civil Rights Movement came and was won, establishing the rules of fair play. The hard part is what remains, rebuilding relations, something that should have been done a long time ago. By ignoring it we are not making things better, we are leaving them stagnant. Now with this event a new found dialogue has been created, giving us a chance to rectify the injustices that still exists and take race relations in America to the next level. It is no longer just a question between Blacks and Whites, but all races. Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans are to be included in this conversation as well. To remedy our nation, and to allow for future generations to not know of profiling and snap judgements, it is imperative that we start now.

I long for the day when sentences are not preceded by "The First Black" (fill-in-the-blank). When we actually can look at a man or woman for their character, rather than what their ancestry is, we can then say the chapter of racism is closed. Until then we have a lot of work to do and the opportunity has been given to us to start now. Maybe then we won't have to have those internal "What If" conversations as often, at least, not on this topic.

To quote one of my heroes, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." – Martin Luther King, Jr.  I Have a Dream Quote

There is another quote I would like to leave you with.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world." ~Anne Frank 

The work now is up to us....