If you go back and read my very first posts, and they are on here somewhere, you will remember that I once lived in Baltimore. I spent 5 years there, sitting in traffic on 695, taking my daughter to Storyville, walking through Herring Run Park, eating at Cafe Hon, stopping in to Atomic Books, watching fireworks over the inner harbor, and generally enjoying life. Therefore it occurs to me that I ought to have something to say about the violence that is currently tearing the city apart. This is what I have to say.
We live in a time of great dishonesty. We are consistently lied to and manipulated by almost everyone, including ourselves. The worst lie is that these things that are happening in our country are isolated incidents. Ferguson is not related to Baltimore, is not related to Sanford, is not related to Boston, is not related to Sandy Hook, is not related to anything else you hear on the news. Something is seriously broken in our society, and whenever we see evidence of it popping up, we deal with the incident as it occurs, and then it is largely forgotten, except to be referenced in lists on blogs years later. When the same types of things keep happening, police violence, gun violence, bomb violence, mob violence, domestic terrorism, our instinct is to look at the person who committed the act and condemn them. All of our anger is misdirected on the person who is acting out, and none of it is directed at the systems which caused them to act out in the first place. But you can’t fix a rusted out old pipe by plugging one hole. And there are too many holes to believe that it is all a coincidence. The pipes are failing.
I am not saying that people are not responsible for their actions and should not be held accountable. Surely some of our anger must be directed at the symptom if we are to be a just society, but the majority of our anger will have to be directed at the disease if we are to solve the problem. But unfortunately, that disease is us. When we are angry at “the government” or “big business” or “the media” or “the police,” we have to realize that those are all people. Those are all human beings, who have power because we gave it to them. And what they(we) are using their(our) power to do, is to create a fear and distrust of “the other.”
Hey people with opposing political viewpoints, do you think I am stupid for what I believe? Do you think I am wrong, and not only wrong but stubbornly, blindly, almost forcefully wrong, to the point that I am going to damage this country irreversibly in a somewhat intentional manner? I’ll bet you do. Because that’s what I think about you too, even though when I stop to really think about it, I know that you only want what is best for this world, just like I do. So why are we arguing instead of talking? We are conditioned now to viciously fight against anyone who is not in our own tribe. Immigrants are other. Minorities are other. The opposite gender. The opposing political party. Stay at home moms vs. working moms. Republicans vs. the Tea Party. Marvel vs. D.C. Religious vs. non religious. Batman vs. Superman. Police vs. the citizens they are supposed to protect and serve. Everything is sides now. Your side. My side. And anyone who is on the other side is so wrong as to be my enemy.
Things have gotten so bad that they have got us doing it to ourselves, and feeling pride in doing it. No one is just human anymore; we all have labels. I am this, but not this. Our identities have become wrapped up in our labels and in what we aren’t. Oh, I am a United Methodist. Do not confuse me with a Methodist. God forbid. The gay community became the LGB community. But we added a T, because the Ts were not L, G, or B. Now there is a Q. People whom we view as “the other” are further distancing themselves, even from one another. I’m not saying that we should quash people’s identities and the things they need to feel included and accepted. No, just the opposite. But I’m saying that labels are used to create distance and division, and I think we have enough of that as it is. At the end of the day we are all just people, and who you love, where you go to church, or what color your skin is is just one piece of who you are. No label can ever truly define any of us, and yet we go about our lives believing that somehow it can. If only there were a word that would let people know who I truly am, they would finally understand me! But the only way to truly accomplish this valid goal is through relationship and community. And that’s what the people in charge don’t want us to have.
Baltimore will be fine. The media is showing us the worst, and I have no doubt that it is scary there today, but there are also people peacefully protesting. There are people helping. There are neighbors caring about each other. It is a great city, of art and music, and it will survive. But if we don’t fix ourselves, and force the people in power, who we put there, to fix themselves, next week we’ll be talking about some other city. We will be blaming one cop, or one gunman, or one bomber, or one kid. And we’ll all still be wondering how these old pipes could be leaking again, when we had just patched up a section the week before.