Black and White

The race for the next governor of Florida will hopefully be a race based on addressing the issues and concerns of Florida voters.  We hope that it will not stray into race baiting and become something that is increasing becoming obvious in our country…that a good chunk of our citizens either subscribe to or supports someone who believes in racist ideologies.  There is a segment of our population that believe in the concept of white supremacy and will hold onto a preconceived notion that some white people should continue to be catered to first and everyone else gets what’s left over in everything that this country has to offer.

I’ve been accused of race baiting when in fact that is not my intent at all.  When you speak of the issues of race in this country in factual terms, some white people get upset and will lash out to deny the existence of white supremacy, even when history and current events reflect that the ideology is indeed alive and well in this country.

In order to address the issues of race in this country, you have to acknowledge its very existence and some people just aren’t willing to do that.  The good news is that there is a large segment of white people that not only acknowledge its existence, but is willing to have a conversation that no one seems to want to have.

It is easier to view the kneeling of NFL players through the lens of disrespecting the American flag as opposed to addressing the issue of why they are kneeling in the first place.

It is easier to brand the movement of Black Lives Matters as a radical hate group when it really is a group of people that want to address the issue of racial bias in our judicial system and that those rules are often stacked against black and brown people.

 It is easier to ignore our history of racial violence and oppression and say that what occurred happened in the past and that it should be left in the past as opposed to learning from those events and deciding to be better and not repeat it.

But this does not seem to be as much about racial inequality as much as it is about the basic fear that the United States is becoming too black and brown for the comfort level of others in this country.  In other words, some people are worried that there are too many people of color reflected and represented in everyday life.  This is our new norm and yet some people find this upsetting and disconcerting.

This is our current reality.

And yet, within that reality is the hope that most of us see beyond race.  We see the beauty in unity and togetherness and blatantly reject the notion of some people being deemed as "other."  We have an America where everyone has the opportunity to obtain the American Dream.  We have the ability to create a country where despite its history, we can be better. We can do better and stop making race an issue, but the reality is that until the issue of inequality is addressed, it will always become a topic that some don’t want to talk about and will purposely avoid at all costs.

Until the issue of inequality is addressed, it will always be a topic where the people who benefit from this ideology will respond with anger and people who reject it will acknowledge it as a statement of fact that needs to be addressed.

As I write this, I am filled with a sense of hope that has been missing for the last year and half.  I am filled with the hope that the majority of the citizens of the United States reject racism, bigotry and divisiveness that is our current political climate.

"Because the truth of the matter is that this country is great.  It has always been great.  You do not have to take away or deny other demographics the right to simply exist to show that greatness."

We are honed in on messages of hope from candidates that are willing to address issues that we hold dear.  These messages are one where we as a people must be locked arm in arm and reject the notion that one race is superior to another.

We will not subscribe to racist ideals and come to understand that other people are not the cause of our woes and ills.  We need to embrace the fact that the only way that we can truly live up to our greatness as a nation is to celebrate the fact that so many races, cultures and ideologies form who we are as a people and that not one race can take the credit for what is right versus what is wrong.

It is not about the swag that one race of people may hold.  It is not about the intellectual level that one race may have because you see, the notion that one race is subordinate to another is an ideology that bigots use to justify their bigotry.

If given the opportunity to do so, every man, woman and child can achieve a level of greatness that has nothing to do with race.

We can stop having conversations about race only when people fully and truly address the issue of the disparity that is reflected in every day life in this country.

Because the truth of the matter is that this country is great.  It has always been great.  You do not have to take away or deny other demographics the right to simply exist to show that greatness.

Greatness is not in how much wealth you can acquire even though some people will have you think that this is the key to being better than.

We have the capacity to be so much better than where we are.  Many of us are starting to see where we are when it comes to equality in this nation.

We will all have to fight the good fight and claim what is ours to claim.  We will understand that we don’t have to subscribes to hatred and bigotry.  Issues can be seen in black, white and shades of grey.

Our issues are more than black versus white.  Our issues are people issues and at the end of the day, we need to remind ourselves of this.

And as we fight to understand that we are all equal in the eyes of God, we will understand that in order to be great, we have to first comprehend that we have always been great.

Always.

~ J.L. Whitehead