"A house divided against itself cannot stand." ~~Abraham Lincoln (1)
http://www.fox29.com/news/local-news/216525456-story
Racist propaganda is showing up on buildings belonging to Jewish immigrants and in school bathrooms. Young children are yelling at Hispanic children in the classroom, telling them their 'mommies and daddies' are going to be deported. Women on the streets are being yelled at, having parts of their bodies grabbed by men, and assaulted in other ways.
http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Teen-arrested-for-writing-threats-in-Franklin-High-bathroom-329454651.html
Protesters have taken to the street to show their disdain for the President-Elect. Most are protesting peacefully, which is their right under the First Amendment of the Constitution. And, as always, there's those few who take the protesting too far, clouding it for those protesting properly.
Through it all, posts and comments on Facebook and other social media are denigrating into harsh words, name-calling, and the us vs them mentality is racheting up even higher. The labels of conservative and liberal are now insults and used to demean each other. In some cases, these insults move into serious injury. It's only a matter of time before someone is killed because of differences in opinions and beliefs.
Think back to your time in school; remember your history, albeit a skewed history. European settlers came to the New World to escape persecution for their beliefs. The founders of the Constitution, wanting to ensure people never again faced the same persecution. wrote safeguards into said Constitution in the form of the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment gives all Americans, those who arrived from distant shores all those long years ago and those born on this land, the right to Free Speech.
But, with Free Speech comes great responsibility. Just because we can say something, doesn't mean we should. It is not necessary to say hateful things to make a point. It is not necessary to name-call. It is not necessary to label each other.
Sure, in the beginning, labels such as conservative and liberal were used to define a person's stand on issues. However in the end, both sides still managed to work together for the best interests of all Americans. Yet, in the last couple of decades, things have seriously changed and not for the better. The us vs them mentality has grown stronger. No longer do those of differing opinions work to find a compromise. Instead, it's do what I want or you are this or that.
And, the racism and inequality many have worked so hard to overcome, some giving their lives for it, are now facing a return to a time when so many American were second-class citizens, deemed not worthy of anything by the few who deemed themselves the "elite."
Read that last paragraph again...I'll wait...see how the labels used, 'second-class citizens' and 'elite' cause division?
I have worked hard and long these past few years to not define myself using labels. I find them restrictive and divisive. Who I am and what I believe cannot be contained in one or two little boxes. My beliefs and opinions stretch across a broad, colorful spectrum.
You see, nothing is ever truly black and white, there are many colors in between the two. Trying to limit all people and all situations to just black or white never works. And these labels do limit everything to what a person perceives that particular label to mean.
Which brings me to another point. Labels are divisive because we all have different perceptions. How I perceive liberals and conservatives differs greatly to how someone on 'the other side of the aisle' perceives the definitions of those two words. In the end, though, they are just that; words. We let words and our perceptions of them divide us from each other.
For several years now, I have not considered myself an American. I choose to not be defined by the country of my birth. I am first and foremost a human being, a living creature of the Earth; the Universe. As such, I am so much more than just an American. I choose to look at humanity from a world view and not a country view. However, I understand many have not reached that point in their thinking and some may never.
At this point in time, in this country, we must strive to at least shed the labels that divide us as Americans. We need to stop with the us vs them mentality. We need to look at the things that unite us and stop letting the opinions, beliefs, and especially the hate of each other divide us. In the end, we are all living creatures, sharing the land we call the United States of America. If we don't, then we will end up tearing each other and this land apart. If that happens, no one wins.
Until next time...
This has been a Message from the Universe
(1) http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/house.htm
Raven is a beautiful mess disguised as a human being. Within this beautiful mess words swirl around
until they coalesce into the messages the world needs to hear. Sometimes they form poetry, sometimes essays,
but always written down so they can be found by those who need them. At other times, the words spring forth in
response to something said by someone when they need to hear them. Sometimes the words are a beautiful message;
other times harsh, but always needed.
Whatever anyone does (or does not do) with the words, is entirely up to
them.
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