An Open Letter to America

At what point did we become so devoid of memory or barren of purpose that we needed to be reminded that Black Lives Matter?  When did they not matter?  And when did we not know that we are all people of color, differing shades of brown?  When did we give up on our ideals, on social justice, and racial reconciliation to the point that we need the government, focus groups, the media, and the internet to get us to be who I thought we were all along?  Haven’t we made huge strides forward as a country?  When did we forget that we just elected a brown president as a universal symbol that we are still moving forward?  I will readily admit that I am an idealist but I also feel most of us are or want to be.  When did half of the country go to sleep and need “woke”ed up?  This is the only country we have; it is not just for half of us, one color of us, one political stripe. It seems to me that the ones banging the drum the most are the ones that never lived through the 1960s, never sang the 5^th Dimension’s, “Aquarius”, Woody’s “This Land is Your Land” or “Get it Together” by the Youngbloods and never believed what they were singing.  What about the Jesus People, Flowers in our hair, honey bees, and apple trees before vegan was ever a word and wanting to Teach the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony?  I actually believe that most of our parents believed in the civil rights movement and worked selflessly to bring about a more Perfect Union.  My parents did.  They worked in the only environment they believed in, the Christian environment.  They worked to integrate their churches, to stand with the churches of color to live the truth of Christ that all humans are created equal.  Didn’t we all march, sit-in, go to predominantly black schools, believe Dr. King, JFK, and listen over and over to the 45 of Abraham, Martin, and John?  It seems that we have forgotten our history of success which encourages us on and or instead marred in hatred promoted by self-righteous forces of hatred.  One thing we learned in our youth is that Love sweet Love is the only thing there’s too little of...and if that’s not your drumbeat, your true drumbeat, then count me out—because I learned at my parents’ knees that the greatest of all is love—and the ’60s and 70’s just underscored that!!! 

 

And not much of what I hear today does.