Hate Ends Here

Hate Ends Here

  

February is Black History Month; and while I do intend on writing some pieces on the fabulous people of color in our great world, today I am choosing to write on something which I consider to be an epidemic...Indifference.

Now many will say, and recently I have read the disgruntled statements made about specific groups having holidays, websites, awards shows, television channels etc. And while these statements were made to create hate and chaos amongst the masses...I found it to be a perfect platform for what I know to be true about the world that we live in and the capability of mankind.

As human beings we waste so much precious time. We waste time separating ourselves from other human beings. Perhaps we do it because we have some need to want to feel more important; as children we all know how much better we feel if people are making a fuss over us. And it is only unfortunate that over the years we have come to realize that often when we are degrading or demoralizing another person...it is meant only to make us look shiny and new. Here in lies the problem, we aren’t shiny and new.

When we are attacking and trying to lessen the significance of another person or being...we are only fueling an old fire. Racial bias, prejudice, misanthropy, religious persecutions...are real problems that we have been facing for centuries. Isn’t it sad to know that for hundreds of years we have been stuck in the same place? We have been fighting a tug of war against ourselves and wondering why we aren’t advancing. When we set aside the hearts and souls of those around us...we become indifferent to the plight of mankind.

When we have to set a side a specific month to bring the focus on a particular group of people...it is only due to the fact that they have been overlooked in the world, at large. We should never have to search for how much a certain race or culture has added to our existence...as long as we include those beings in our daily acknowledgements of who brought us to where we are today. For example if all cultures of this country were equally represented in our public school curriculum then we may feel more balanced, over all.

But the painful truth is...we do segregate ourselves from those not exactly like us. We will find reasons to diminish the contributions that people of other races...religions...sexes or cultures have brought to our daily lives. We have gotten so frigid and cold that we don’t realize that we are doing it; until someone from a minority group points it out. Then we will use our only defense and say...he/she is an angry man/woman. That is when the gloves come on and it becomes a slapping contest. We will all try and diminish the accomplishments of one another in an attempt to make us feel better about ourselves.

We are ALL human beings...of one race. And given the way our paths are going we are not far from extinction. We have become destructive to each other and to ourselves. We find reasons to declare war on each other...as if we are the voice of truth and reason.

Our Creator has high expectations of us all. I know, at times, it can seem difficult to fulfill such a tall order and we can become overwhelmed. But we need not feel that it is out of the realm of what we are capable of. We are supposed to be able to love and lean on one another. And if it feels strange and unusual to love so easily...it is only because we may be out of practice and quite possibly we are in worse shape than I am even relaying to you now.

Let us show our children the way to God. They are depending on us to lead by example...so they can do the same for their children. Lift up one another. When we do that instead of tearing down one another, you can feel the change in the air. We start transferring good loving thoughts and energy to those around us. Let the cycle of life be a productive and prosperous one. Plant a seed of hope for someone who has feels lost...it’s like giving a road map of life to a person who has been driving around in circles.

Search deep within you for the compliment that you are hoping someone will say to you...and give it to someone else. Transfer sunshine through your smile; show the world that starting with you...the hate ends here.

School is Out

School is Out

  I have been searching for inspiration so I could write about our public school systems, as when I am inspired, you can always see the message the writing is trying to bring to you. You can not imagine how blessed I felt when this subject matter came up in the post a day suggestion link…I have been smiling all day. Well…I hope you enjoy…lol.

I think the very first time I had really opened my eyes to the public school system was a few years back during November, which was Native American History month. Since I was raised and speak often about my culture to my daughter…she began to wonder why the school would post signs all over the place saying it was Native American History month…yet none of her teachers ever talked about it. She came home one day looking rather, puzzled and frustrated. I asked her what was wrong and we began discussing the problem she had incurred while asking when they were going to learn about the Native American History. Her eyes swelled up with tears as she went on to tell me that her HISTORY teacher expressed to her that Native Americans have not contributed enough to our society to actually warrant having an hour set aside to discuss them. I comforted her the very best that I could, trying to explain that sometimes people are oblivious to how their responses could affect others, and I told her I would go to the school and talk to their principal.

  I did as I told her I would, and asked the principal why it was that Native Americans could have a month dedicated to them by the federal government yet they had no place in the class room…at least not in my daughters class. I was told that it wasn’t that they had not contributed anything to society; but that November was really more about Thanksgiving and Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World.  I expressed my disappointment in the school even suggesting that people from my culture contributed nothing to the way we live now and even then. 

  I had always found it offensive to know that our public schools would only take one month out of the year and dedicate it to Black History (February)…as if so few contributions were made by African Americans that it didn’t warrant more attention. It was true that in her school in particular, there were times when 2 African Americans were spoken of, other than during February…those would be Harriet Tubman and George Washington Carver (we live in a huge peanut state).

But it troubled me more to know that even when studying the Black History in February, they would only cover the basics…Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Carl Lewis, Rosa Parks and Rev. Jesse Jackson. There were pictures of Malcolm X, but no discussions because #1 he was too controversial and #2 he was not Christian. It was at this point when my head would begin to swell and the headaches came flooding in. I had to sit my daughter down and ask her…do you know who Medgar Evers is. She shook her head, I explained that he was monumental in the civil rights movement; in trying to put an end to segregation…all I got was a blank stare. Then I asked her, do you know what Martin Luther King Jr did that made him famous? She said plainly, he made the I have a dream speech, and then he was killed. She had no idea what was happening in our country at that time, she had no understanding as to how truly awful black people were treated, for just trying to do what everyone else was doing…living. All of this was oblivious to her; she had never heard anyone say anything about public lynching’s, about separate water fountains and bathrooms. She didn’t realize that black people could not go to the movies with white people, that they were treated as second class citizens. All of this disturbed her greatly; especially given the fact that her father is black…she was offended. We all should be offended, especially if we have schools that ignore the parts of history that are controversial. I had to explain to her that this is why there are so many problems today, a lot of people are still angry…because there never seems to be any balancement. I expressed to her, like many other things involving other groups of people, there is no way to make up for some injustices in our society. There are something’s that throwing a bandage on will not cure...but rather, it leaves a huge scar to remind us that we were wronged. I want to talk about James Reese Europe with you right now…but believe me that is another blog completely…lol…I digress.

  I realized at that point, if she was going to continue to stay in public schools that I would have to become extremely involved in what she was being taught. And once I learned that the school really didn’t want my two cents worth, I would just teach her, from home. I would teach her all of the things that the school system left gaps in. I know I should have been more involved to begin with, but I was just thankful that by the time she was in the 6^th or 7^th grade…I was paying close enough attention to what she wasn’t being taught to help cushion what she needed to know.

  Then on April 16, 2007…the most gruesome thing happened. Cho Seung Hui, a 23 year old Virginia Tech Senior; went on a shooting rampage and he killed 32 students before turning a gun on himself. This was the worst massacre in United States history, and it happened in Virginia…where we live.

  Myself, personally, I was physically and emotionally spent on that day. We kept getting updates throughout the day as more murders and injuries had been reported. I was worried about the state my daughter would be in, as she came in from school. At that time she was 13, she had never experienced such brutality in any event. So, she comes in, and is laughing and talking away. I was a little confused thinking she took this very well. I decided that perhaps this was her defense mechanism taking over. I gave her very basic information about it and left it at that; thinking that they would speak to the students about it the next day and offer counseling, as there had to be students disturbed by this act. After all, this event happened at a school, where children were supposed to feel safe and secure. After school the next day, she came home the same as the day previous. I asked her if they talked to the students today about the shootings at Virginia Tech. She said, very simply…..no.

  I became very frustrated by this, and went to the school and asked why they would not discuss something that happened so close to where we were, geographically…not to mention that it happened at a school. I was bluntly told, it wasn’t in their curriculum, and to take time out for this discussion…would set them back a day. I was livid.

  Not only did they not mention it, they didn’t think about the 3 children going to that school, whose sisters and brother went to Virginia Tech. So in short, the school system did not feel that the worst massacre to happen in a school in our country, EVER, was worth a discussion.

  So back to our original topic, what do I think about our public school system? I think it lacks adaptability, it lacks information, and it fails to give our teachers stretching room where they can determine where the students need to1 be, as opposed to where they are. I feel that the school board is so concerned with funding and accreditation that they have lost the reason the schools are even open.

  We only need to look at what happened to the schools in Atlanta, Georgia to know that…the only difference in those schools (where teachers falsified tests, because there jobs were threatened)…and other schools across the country is that Atlanta got caught. Atlanta school district got caught being greedy, and as an end result the public school students became expendable. School stopped being about what the child was getting out of the school and became; what can the school get out of the child. This is such a sad state of affairs, but it is reality.

  What do I think the answer should be? Pay teachers more; the really great ones can be priceless to our children. School boards need to look for teachers that look outside of the box, a teacher who encourages free thinking with intelligent reasoning. We need smaller classrooms, children learn better in a more intimate setting. Right now we are stacking the odds against our children…they are innocent and deserve better.

  Lastly, if you can spare the time, I suggest homeschooling. Children need to know what is going on in our world and often this is found in the experience of life and not in a text book. How can I learn about current events in a text book written 5 years ago? As the public at large we need to step in and participate in our educational system, we can not trust that our kids are getting the best education possible…unless we participate.

  Education today isn’t what my education was, but we can’t just throw our hands up in defeat…we must make strides towards a solution. Our children will be the soundest investment that we ever make. They don’t raise themselves and we can’t let them educate themselves. We must become steadfast and consistent in their lives, showing them that what they are doing is important to us. It may be as simple as going to your child’s classroom randomly…showing our children that we care and showing our schools that we are holding them accountable. Just my take…