Nasty Politics

The race for the White House is getting really nasty. The hatred of racism is rising and fear is rampant. The truth about our history and the prejudice that so many of us have either forgotten or refuse to believe still exists is daring to resurface.

Those of us who are Christian believers, though not right wingers and misguided fundementalist realize that these times have been predestined to happen and for a specific purpose.

I believe one reason is because of the antipathy of our black youth. With the world influence of the hip hop culture, many have grown to believe that racism isn't dangerous, that it does not effect them. This is a wake up call for a whole generation of black people who neither appreciate, understand or care about what our ancestors and people just 40 years ago went through to get us the freedoms and benefits that we experience today.

As I read the newspapers and watch the political shows and browse the internet, there are numerous examples of the very racism that lynched so many of our young black men. The same racism that hosed down civil rights workers, or killed Emmit Till or even Martin Luther King Jr. The same racism that brought heroin to Harlem and malt liquor to all of the inner cities and crack cocaine.

Many black americans are getting angry and are starting to trade tirades and rants of violence and hatred. I say we are bigger than that, better than that. While our youth are suddenly faced with the ugliness of the past, with clear and present danger, let us take this opportunity to train them in the way they should go.

Let us not stoop to the level of those whose ignorance blinds them and fills them with hatred. Let us instead endeavor to take the high road as our leader has. We should not retort insult for insult but rather focus on our unity. It is the unity and hope of a people that will persevere. Please be mindful that our brother is the descendant of both African and Anglo heritage and we should be respectful of that.

The fear of those whose ignorance insites them, is real and powerful, but there is more power and more strength in hope and faith. So let us rather be shining examples of the man who has decided to follow his calling in spite of the danger, the hatred and the fear, to be a beacon of light. A pathway of change for a better America and a better world.