An old friend reminded me today of an incredible quote by one of the most courageous men to ever live. A very simple quote, just a couple sentences, but its simplicity is its strength. If more people would take heed to this quote and spend less time trying to assume the role of steward of all that is right and proper in this country, the doors would open for a peaceful existence. It is not meant to empower one race nor blame another; it is merely a quote portraying a philosophy for all to assume: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can to that.” This is not a black, white, brown, red or yellow issue, it is one of becoming a community together, spurning adversarial conflict. I don’t see this as a roadway to Utopia but definitely a peaceful path worth traveling. Communication, understanding and compromise are the stepping stones that make up this path.
Much of the communication and effort for this path has already been revealed from years of laborious effort. The Civil rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s pounded out so much of the foundation for the successes of today. It’s been 60 years since the movement started, and the inroads are tremendous. The communication has not been one sided but to this point, the focus must change.
This country is very aware of the struggles, efforts and successes as well as the failures. If we look at he communication factor today, it seems the focus must shift to educating the oppressed as well as the oppressor. Providing the knowledge that the struggles today are nothing close to what they were in the 50’s and 60’s and the many years leading up to the movement. Not only are there more opportunities but society overall has taken more steps to provide that equality of opportunity. Educating the equality of all in our children will carry over into their adult lives. If we teach them how to hate and blame for any problems that present themselves, the child will have limited openings as an adult. The black community must be willing to accept the white community as well as the opposite to be true for society to advance. Only then can we propagate the future without hate.
Communication is the start, understanding is the backbone, the fortitude to make the communication work. We have heard all the talking, but you have to be willing to listen to make the other half of communication work correctly. We can talk until we are blue in the face but if there is no understanding of the subject matter, the conversation fails. WE have to comprehend the issues facing all people, study and understand the sources of our obstacles but we must also recognize and understand obstacles beset upon those seeking to assist us.
What can we do better to describe our issues for better understanding. Taking that active role in the solution makes it all the more rewarding. Creating separate splinter factions and societies only further divides us. An all-black professional basketball league is the worst idea ever! Weeding out the bigots and racists forces a harmonious hand. As with all democratic processes, we must care for the minority and make sure they are not splintered off, disenfranchised, but possibly helped into a new thought process. We have made great strides in the last 10 years to make sure we are including all races into the benefits supported and enacted by the government. Let us not lose sight of the goal by battling it again with hate. The racist has become the minority; we must busy ourselves with the educating of those who hate.
Once we understand and can communicate freely, objectively and safely, we must learn to compromise; not our principles but our policies. The give and the take is what made this country strong in the first place. Redressing this concept will restore us. Kobe Bryant did not want to throw in with the Miami Heat basketball team in their support of Trayvon Martin until he had the facts. It was a horrible incident and it devastated two families and many people, but Kobe wanted to hear the testimony and the ruling from the judicial process, a concept that is all but lost in the country.
If more people allowed the process to work, we would be able to understand more of each incident and make an informed decision instead of trying our defendants in the media. In turn, as these events occur, we can address them as a community, a society, a country, and mourn those lost as well as those imprisoned and grieve for them both. Supporting the defendant does not exclude sympathy for the victim, it is a concern for the accused until proven guilty. We should despise the fact that a young man died far too soon in the case of Trayvon Martin, but waiting for the entire process to run its course will complete the picture.
Hate is a powerful force. In the process of advancing our country over the last 238 years, hate has played a major role. Hating the English and their rule of law; hating the Native American’s for living on the land we have claimed as our own and daring to fight back; hating the Chinese as we sent them to the most dangerous jobs building our national railways; enslaving a race of people simply because of their skin color; all forms of hate. We hate out of fear that someone will take something we have laid claim to or that they hold dominion over what we say or do. In that famous quote from above, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can to that,” we recognize that Dr. Martin Luther King saw this 50 years ago, and we’ve never needed to read and understand these words more than now, or ever.
