What is your level of acceptance? How accepting are you of differences in opinions, in beliefs, in values, in socioeconomic status, and in the color of people's skin?
About a month ago, I noticed this graffiti with a strong message that inspired me to take a picture of it. The message brought up lots of emotions for me regarding the injustices that have been happening in the last few years that our advancements in technology have facilitated for us to witness taking place in different parts of the country we refer to as the land of the free and the home of the brave.
When I took this photo, flashes of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown came to mind and here it is not even a month later where the South Carolina shooting of Walter Scott makes the message of this graffiti even louder, more unsettling, and very saddening. Its message also brings up major concerns not only on the racism that obviously continues to exist in America, but also the lack of attention and seriousness being given to mental health that human beings in all walks of life are desperately in need of.
During a discussion about the most recent situation in South Carolina, I brought up the graffiti picture I had taken and it was brought to my attention that someone had added a W to the No which resulted in changing the entire message of the art. This got me to thinking about how people are entitled to think what they want, to have their own perception of things, and that ignorance really can be bliss for those who choose to stay unaware or unaffected by what happens to human beings that exist outside of their life bubble.
The contradiction of the two messages relayed in the graffiti has gotten me to think more and more about what it must feel like to live as a black person in this country today despite all the changes that have come about since the African American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. Although it 'appears' as though America is the land of equality and freedom, I'm not so sure that any minority group and particularly black men believe this to be true.
My curiosity led me to want to talk with my colleague and friend who is a highly educated woman of color that is actively involved with a not-for-profit organization that consists of 12,000 professional women of color in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. This organization is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry. I wanted to know her perception and hear her thoughts on the controversy that continues to be publicized in the media since Trayvon Martin's death in 2012.
Her response was quite interesting. She said that she could share many stories about her and her own family's experiences with racism. One story she did share was about her son who is grown man living in New York, who has a higher education, and holds a good position in banking. She said that her son was wearing a nice suit and driving his nice car on his way to work when a policeman pulled him over for no apparent reason. When the policeman walked up to her son's car, he said, “Where you headed boy?” My friend's son responded that he was on his way to work and the policeman replied back to him, “Are you a drug dealer or a preacher?” What seemed most appalling about her story was that a police officer who holds this position of 'power' for the purpose of 'protecting the people' felt not only inclined to question my friend's son for no legitimate reason, but in the process was allowed to humiliate him in that way because he is an armed policeman that can do and say as he pleases.
In what way is this position of power that we give to police officers actually helping to 'protect and serve' humanity? And what if these people and police officers who are committing these brutal and unjust actions towards people (including adolescents) of color are not just racists, but also perhaps suffering from mental illness due to the amount of trauma and chaos that they are subject to regularly?
It's difficult for me to fully believe that the only reason that these horrific acts keep taking place is based solely on racism and the lack of acceptance that exists among people.
Acceptance is defined as the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable, typically to be admitted into a group. I think that there seems to be a strong need for acceptance of all the harmful realities taking place today which are affecting our existance and the world as a whole. Acceptance of: how we treat each other as people all doing their best to live and survive; how we treat ourselves and that includes our mind, our body, and our spirit; how we treat our own fear and other emotions that cause us to act in ways we feel aren't right; how we treat each other for having differences in religious beliefs; how we treat money; how we treat the homeless; how we treat mental health and those suffering from mental illnesses; how we treat the animals we eat; how we treat the animals going into extinction; and how we treat planet earth's lands and oceans.
What if it's possible to slowly create change for humanity through being more mindful and practicing the things that matter most to all human beings: awareness, security, love, kindness, empathy, compassion, understanding, respect, and most of all acceptance?