For the last week or so, it seems like every single topic in the news is centered around a discrimination or equality issue of some type. I'm not usually one to discuss my views on politics or sensitive social topics. It's totally not my style to try to push my beliefs on anyone else and have always felt that the way I live my life is the best way to show others what I stand for. Today, I was having a conversation with a group of ladies that moved me to want to write about my thoughts on the subject. This is very unusual for me and might be the only time you'll read a post from me like this.
My feelings
about marriage equality are pretty similar. I'm a Christian and get the whole
'Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve' thing. However, it's my job to make sure I'm
living the way God wants me to. Deciding who gets into Heaven is his job, not
mine. If Adam and Steve want to have sweet, lovely relations I don't feel like
it affects me as long as they don't ask to borrow my bed. Who am I to tell Adam and Steve they can't get
married? I can't imagine how heartbroken I would be if I was told I couldn't
marry my husband just because some people don't agree with interracial
relationships. When I think about it in those terms, I can understand how gay people
must feel. I really don't understand the
viewpoint that allowing marriage equality tarnishes the idea of what marriage
is supposed to be. Straight people strayed from the true intent of marriage a
long time ago. If it were up to me, I would make the marriage laws equal for
everyone and make them a lot more strict. In most states, you can get married
at the drop of a hat for a few hundred dollars and all you have to do is sign
your name. However, getting a divorce is expensive, complicated, and time
consuming. In my opinion, if they made it just as hard to get married as it is
to get a divorce, a lot less people who didn't belong together would be running
out and doing it.
The conversation
I was having today was actually about the rioting in Baltimore. Particularly, a
video of a white girl screaming racial slurs at a group of black people on the
street and bragging that her Dad was a detective. My only real experience with
racism was when a friend of mine's niece came up to me and told me that she
liked me, but her Mom told her she wasn't allowed to be around me because you
can't trust white people. She was 7 years old. It's always stuck with me
because it was like a rare glimpse into what black people must experience so
often. It upset me to be judged like that, but mostly my heart broke for that
little girl knowing that she was going to grow up believing that you can't
trust certain people because of their skin color. During today's conversation,
several people agreed that racism makes it harder to be in an interracial
relationship. My husband and I rarely have any negative experiences with
others. I think part of it is because we honestly don't care what anyone
thinks, but on the rare occasion where we notice someone giving us dirty looks
we handle it by engaging in an inappropriate public make out session. My
husband is a wonderful man and the idea that someone would think otherwise is
ludicrous to me. If someone wants to judge him or us because of our difference
in skin color they're just a fucking moron.
My opinion is
that all these issues are loosely connected in the sense that that they all
involve a person's fear of or hatred toward someone different from them. Watching
the news makes it apparent that we still have a long way to go, but for anyone
who thinks that we haven't made progress on equality issues, those same news
stories are evidence that we are getting somewhere. We all know white
police officers senselessly murdering black people isn't a recent development. The
fact that these incidents are now making the news daily, and people have the
courage to rise up against their local law enforcement shows that we are
marching toward change. The fact that a reserve deputy right here in Oklahoma has
been charged for senselessly killing a black man is evidence that perhaps soon
these police officers will be forced to think before they shoot. Maybe we can't
change their hearts, but we can force them to make the choice between going
home to their families or depriving a black man of being able to go home to
his. The fact that I can walk hand in hand with my husband and not be run out
of town represents progress. The fact that Bruce Jenner can go on tv and show
off the little black dress he plans to wear to dinner with Diane Sawyer and
people support him even if they don't understand it shows tolerance. The fact
that the Supreme Court is even discussing gay marriage shows the potential for
equal rights under the law. The best thing we can do as citizens is teach our children
well. What happens next is going to be up to them.
1 comments
I can't deny there has definitely been progress. As in with interracial relationships... at least black men aren't being castrated or hung up on a tree for dating or even looking in a white woman's direction. But I don't think it's enough progress to say we are getting anywhere. We still have a long way to go. Black lives still do not matter. While it may have been removed from the constitution that we are 1/3 of a person, authority figures, government officials, and sometimes even common people still treat us as such. I think progress will be considered made when black people no longer have to fear for their lives or future simply for being black, when we are stopped being killed senselessly by non-blacks for the color of our skin, or when we are truly treated fairly in all areas of life. There'll still be work to do after that, but at least I can consider that progress. ♥
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Let Them Envy
Please leave a comment so I know I'm not talking to myself. ;) I read every single one. ♥