“Today is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” These words are often spoken in many places of worship throughout the world and they mean even more after the events that took place in Charleston, South Carolina.
The title of this post is “No Need to Run” because there is no need to run away from the issues that we face in this country. South Carolina has a deep-rooted problem when it comes to racism and progression, but I think turning a blind eye to these issues is even worse. A total of nine people were shot and killed during a weekly Bible study meeting because of their skin color, but give it a week and the news will be focused on another story that distracts from this problem in America.
We are having an image crisis here in America and the world can see it. Let us not stand by in awe of what is taking place, but let us change the narrative that should have been rewritten a long time ago. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once dreamed 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.” It has been nearly fifty-two years since these words were spoken, but we still have not changed as a country. What a shame.
We pride ourselves on being the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” but that is not true. Simply put, we are lacking in our efforts to progress due to something as minute as treating the next man or woman the same way that you would want to be treated. Growing up, I was always taught to tell the truth and today I am telling you all the ugly truth, we are not the land of the free nor the home of the brave, but instead, the land of the oppressed and the home of the poltroon. That is a tough pill to swallow, but so be it.
In the end, I believe that there is hope for “my country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing”, but we need to change before it is too late.
Tomorrow you will turn on your television to see that someone else has been treated unequally due to their religion, race or gender, but what will you do to change these actions? Then again, “That is not my problem.”
As I digress, I believe that the young man who killed those churchgoers has some deep-rooted issues that need to be addressed during his stint in our penal system and I hope those families receive justice for their loved ones.
Finally, we have been running from the thought of equality for a long time, but as boxing champion Joe Louis once said, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Let’s stop hiding America and let us do what is right to move our country forward.