Its not ALWAYS About Race

"I want to be a representative of my race- the human race. I have a chance o show how kind we can be, how intelligent and generous we can be" -Maya Angelou

When I was seventeen I was drugged and raped at a party by a white friend I knew and held down by two others, both black. This was a heinous crime committed against me, but it was a crime committed by wicked people against an innocent young girl, it wasn't racial.

When I was twenty years old I was followed to a gas station by three Mexicans and had a gun held to my head. They shot at my friend, a white man who was blonde and blue eyed like me. They screamed racial slurs at me calling me "white bitch" and as they were exiting the scene they screamed "we're Mexican! Remember that!" This was a racial crime.

Good people do bad things and bad people do good things. Bad people also do bad things, but that doesn't mean everyone who looks like them should be punished, just like when good people do good things everyone who looks like them should not be celebrated and rewarded. 

​The crime against George Floyd was disgusting. It was murder and it was not justified. No one deserves to be killed. When I watched the video of his killing I saw an asshole cop abuse his power and kill a criminal unjustly and without reason. He should be punished accordingly and I hope he is. However, I did not see a white man kill a black man for being black. I didn't see a racial crime. Black cops kill white criminals. White cops kills white criminals. Black cops kill black criminals. Black criminals kills innocent black people. White criminals kill innocent white people. George Floyd served time for holding a gun to the pregnant belly of a black woman during a robbery. He did not deserve to die, but his life is being used in a movement protesting racism as if this crime was racial? This is causing more hatred, violence, and separation and inncent people in both black and white communities have died as a result.

If I tell a man I don't want to give him my number or go out with him, I have to hear, "You don't date the brothers?" even though this person simply isn't someone I'm interested in. And, side note, my greates love and first real boyfriend was black. I loved him twenty damn years and maintained a close friendship.

If I move to the side of the street to be polite to the person who may be bumped by my large purse I have to hear, "Oh you're scared because I'm black?"

When I wouldn't help my kindergarten student cut out a bat during a CUTTING practice project, his mother accused me of racism against her son, who by the way was one of my most loved students. I didn't help him because he needed to practice cutting like everyone else.

If President Obama was half black and half white, why is he referred to as the first black president? Why isn't he known as a democratic prsident who the people felt was best for the seat in office? Why use race rather than his capability to justify choosing him to lead the country? How much better for ending racism would it have been if he was simply a representative of the American people?

If we're fighting to end racism, we have to start judging people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. This was Dr. Martin Luther King's dream, right? The murder of george Floyd shouldv'e been used to demand mental health tests for police officers, better training, better education, harsher punishments for police brutality and holding them accountable for unjust actions. It should NOT be used to divise two communities who have fought for civil rights since the beginning of America. We have made HUGE strides as a nation and have fought the oppression based on race, sexuality, age, gender, and handicap. Let's not move backwards and allow the media to divide us again. 

ITS NOT ALWAYS ABOUT RACE.