While I was at work last night, one of my cooks showed me a picture his brother sent him. Now, I figured it would be something funny; maybe a bit inappropriate, but funny nonetheless. In this day and age, we could all use a bit of humor now and then. What he showed me, however, made me want to give him and his brother a good Megaton Punch. He showed me a picture of the famous dancing African child captioned to say, “Barack Obama’s baby picture.” He showed it to me and waited for a laugh. What he got instead was my patented death glare.
“I don’t know why he sent that to me,” he said when he realized I didn’t find the humor in it.
“You know good and well why he sent you that,” was my reply.
Later, I was browsing Facebook when I saw one of my friends posting about what was happening in Baltimore. For the uninitiated – like I was before seeing his posts – there was a violent clash between police and protesters who were angry at the way Freddie Gray was handled before dying; sometime during an arrest, he suffered a spinal injury and died as a result of said injuries. People were saying that violence is never the answer, that they (the protesters) should handle themselves better, so on and so forth.
Here’s the problem with that line of thinking. We have been holding our tongue and turning the other cheek for DECADES. There comes a point after a while where people get sick and tired of hoping for the best and they decide to take action themselves. When we as a race riot, we’re called thugs and violent malcontents who only want to disrupt the system. Meanwhile, when Ohio State won the National Championship, the Buckeye fans rioted, and no one said a word. If anything, it was considered youthful indiscretion. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.
While I was browsing, I saw this picture:
No truer words have ever been spoken, and those who perpetuate that way of thinking should take that to heart.
Before I wrap this up, I made a post myself that said, “Word to the wise: don’t mistake my inaction for acceptance.” What I meant by that is, just because I don’t scream, rant, and rave about injustice, it doesn’t mean that I’m okay with it. Because I’m not. My personality won’t allow me to do any of that, and when I try, I sound like a lunatic. I’ll leave the vocal protestations for those who can do it better than me. Bottom line, I respect all people until I am shown otherwise; when the day comes that you do something that causes me to lose that respect for you, I immediately cut you off. FOREVER.
Don’t tell people that double standards don’t exist, especially when you are living on the other side of that double standard. That’s a quick way to get your feelings hurt.