I remember a day when I was 11 years old. The day of the white bronco chase. Yes! OJ! I remember watching news coverage at daycare (how was that allowed?) and then coming home and being glued to the TV that evening. I was fascinated with the murder and the trial. Recently I've watched two TV series on OJ; The People vs. OJ on FX and ESPNs 30 for 30 OJ: Made in America. I was engrossed in both series. And through watching the ESPN series, I learned a lot about what was going on in the country in the early 1990s.
In the past few weeks we've had such unthinkable news headlines here in the US. Two black males being shot by police officers and police officers being gunned down in Dallas and Baton Rouge. Countless other horrific crimes. Innocent lives lost. The Black Lives Matters movement is headline news again and people are hurting. They're really hurting! It seems like it's blacks against whites and everyone against police and it's a scary, scary time! And I was thinking, wow, this is so frightening and our country has never seen anything like this....
And then I watched OJ: Made in America.
Just 25 years ago, the LAPD was front page headlines for the way they were raiding black neighborhoods and tearing peoples houses to shreds "looking for drugs". They had the stigma that they were the best and they would take you down. There was the horrific Rodney King beating and the riots that followed. There was the murder of Latasha Harlins, a 15 year old African-American girl that was shot in the back of the head by a Korean-American store owner. Times were BAD! And as I watched, I kept imagining what older folks who saw that were thinking then and how they feel now as it's happening again. They were probably feeling the same fears that I've felt in the last few weeks and they were probably wrestling with the, "Why can't we all just get along?"s, just as I have.
To make matters worse, just 25 years earlier was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Civil Rights Movement. Is this just something that happens every 25 years? Will we get over this moment in time, just to repeat it 25 years from now? It's hard for me to realize that in 25 years, we as a whole, have learned nothing about loving our neighbor and accepting everyone. It's hard for me to think about my white privilege because I've never really had to think about it. I guess that's why it's privilege... But recently, it's been on my mind as I've read article after article about black men and women who are scared of authority figures on a daily basis just because of their skin color. The only thing I know to do about any of it is to continue to love and to stand up for my friends of ANY color in any situation where there isn't equality.
Another interesting part of both OJ series was hearing from the jurors that them getting OJ off was their way of righting the wrongs of the time. That's sad to me! And it was sad to hear some of them say that they knew he was probably guilty, but they were for the black man because never was the black man in the right when it came to police and the justice system. I can't agree with this. I think if you do the crime, you deserve the punishment. And this case is so much more than just that injustice. The prosecution didn't do their job 100%. I've served on a jury in Johnston county for a kidnapping and burglary case and I knew the guy was guilty as sin, but we couldn't convict him because the prosecution didn't do their job and there was shotty police work. It stinks, so I get it...
The other interesting thing, in my opinion, was the fact that so many people in the African-American community were for OJ and yet he never identified himself as black. He wasn't anti-black, he was just The Juice. He stayed away from having an opinion or commenting on the 1968 Black Panther Salute at the Olympics, while he was at USC. He married a black woman and then a white woman (Nicole Brown). He was a star athlete and football wasn't about the color of his skin. It wasn't about race for him. And yet his trial was made into a racial debacle (with Mark Fuhrman and the N word) and his acquittal in the end was largely due to the fact that he was black.
I'll also note that it was the OJ trial that really made news stations start sensationalizing "news". In my opinion, there never should have been cameras allowed in that court room. But there were. And so many other "news" topics popped up during the trial because of that. These days we blame the media for so much. Pot stirring and making matters worse. And I DO think the media contributes negatively in so many situations. It's just interesting that all of that really started with the OJ trail and it hasn't let up for a second.
So, lets go back to Black Lives Matter. And forgive me because I'm a little all over the place, but hopefully it will all make sense in the end! So many people are retaliating to Black Lives Matter with ALL Lives Matter. And they do! But unfortunately we're living in a time where in the United States, AGAIN, Black lives seem to matter less than other lives. And so the purpose, I think, is not to say, "but my life matters too"...but to come beside my friends who are black and say "You DO matter!" And to prove that with my actions.
And here's where I'll jump into the political madness.
I'm scared for our country! We have two candidates that are so polarizing and are pitting people against each other. And our country is already in a world of hurt. If we elect the candidate who wants to build a wall to keep our southern neighbors out, then it's not just going to be Black Lives Matter, it's going to turn into Hispanic Lives Matter too because I'm sure they're going to fear for their safety. I'm scared that if we elect that candidate...the one who is spewing hate and degrading women and putting his race above others, that we will not move forward, we will take a giant step back.
My whole life I've always reasoned that I didn't want a woman in the White House because we're moody and we have crazy hormones and I didn't want anyone in power that could put the country in jeopardy like that. And now I'm scared because the other candidate is so quick to lash out with unintelligible thoughts that we will most certainly make enemies with other countries. I'm worried that HE is the one that will say something out of turn and ruin it for the rest of us. I don't trust him. Meanwhile, the female seems even-kilter and steady in comparison.
Again, I didn't spend time watching either convention, but I did see clips on social media. And I was moved to tears to realize that in my lifetime, not only could we have a black man in the White House, but we could have a woman. Women's rights have come a long way and yet, we have a LONG way to go. But that gives me hope. And how powerful would it be for little girls, 11 years old and younger, in every state to know that they too could hold the highest office. WOW! My favorite cartoon recently is the one below. Amazing!
So, let's talk big picture too.
I'm confused. I'm a Christian. And granted I lean a little more left, just because growing up my parents were democrats. I'd probably fall more in the moderate category, but I AM a Christian. And yet, I look on social media and ALL of my Christian friends are Republicans. Ok. I've been here before...in 2004 I lost LOTS of friends in college because I didn't agree with Bush and being a Christian for me didn't automatically mean you were conservative.
Can we talk about that? Can we talk about how I don't understand how people who believe in God and know that we're all created in God's image and know that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves...how those people can back a guy who is trying to divide us? How do those Christian values line up with that nonsense? Here's what I believe. I believe we're to follow the Greatest Commandment in Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " I believe that our neighbors are not just the people in our hometown, but our neighbors are the people of Mexico and the people of Canada. They're the people of Paris and Yemen, Tunisia and Egypt. Our neighbors are those hurting in Istanbul and Brussels and Nice. AND Orlando and Dallas and Baton Rouge. How can we love our neighbor and hate anyone that's not like us? I'm not for that.
Look, I don't have all of the answers, but I do know that we can go a long way when we love. When we love instead of murder. When we love instead of disliking entire people groups. When we love instead of hating those not like us. When we love like God loves.
We've been studying James in my Bible study and I have a few verses that bring this all full circle for me. I hope you're able to see my points and I pray I'm not taking any of these out of context.
James 1:19-21 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."
I'm working on this in myself. Slow to speak and slow to become angry...I can still choose love in my heart for those that I might not like in the moment. I'm a work in progress. I see so much lashing out on social media and I just hope that we all as a whole can listen before we react. Just because it's not what we believe doesn't mean we can't respect those people.
James 3:5-6 "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."
Wow! This just reminds me that words are powerful and they can be hurtful to the point of corruption. We need to all be careful with what we say and how we say it. And we need to make sure we're not repeating hate.
James 3:9-10 "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."
How can we claim to be lovers of God and then bash others and harbor hate in our hearts for them? I'm working on this verse too! I'm not perfect...but I'm covered by God's grace!
In closing, I just want to take it back to OJ. I hope that instead of righting the wrongs (like those jurors felt they had to do) you may feel about Obama by choosing the Republican candidate, that you'll really think about this election. Don't make decisions about either side just because it's "the better of the two evils". There is a third party candidate. I know NOTHING about him, so I'm not endorsing a thing. However, it really pains me to see people so adamantly one way or the other just because that's their party's candidate; no regard for who that person is or what they may do in office, but willing to vote for them to back "their" party. And I pray we come to the right verdict. Sometimes those that are guilty go free and unfortunately, that's part of life too. I don't know that the Union can handle much more...and I don't want to repeat this all in 25 years.
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