I don’t want to talk politics in this week’s newsletter. I want to talk about the conflict we are seeing in American streets.
One of the things I have to do far more often than I’d like to is pay attention to the political side of things. How might this affect the 2020 election? Will Trump suffer for this? Will Democrats push too far and swing momentum back into Trump’s favor? Is Biden any better equipped to deal with this than Trump?
But I don’t want to think about those questions right now. I want to focus on us. People. Not voters, not part of some collective political unit. But people who live and deal with issues like race and sexism every day. There is a point when things can’t be political. They have to be real, human issues that we deal with in real, human ways.
I want to quote a friend of mine, who posted one of the best responses I’ve seen on social media yet.
Acknowledging that black and brown people face racism and prejudice doesn’t mean that your life has been easy or that your struggles don’t matter; it means that the color of your skin isn’t the reason for those struggles.
As a teacher and a coach, I’m lucky enough to interact with kids from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. I’ve witnessed firsthand my minority players racially abused by opposing fans during soccer games (although the cowards are usually quiet when pressed to repeat what they just said). You would like to believe that this crap doesn’t exist anymore, but it does.
The sad truth is that when some people look at these students of color they don’t see a brother, a sister, a 4.0 student, an artist, a goofy young man who watches anime and wants to be a pharmacist, a brilliant young woman who wants to be an author. They see a threat.
I’m not saying I know how to fix any of these issues or how to rid the world of racism. I do, however, think that the least we can do is acknowledge that it’s there and do a little bit every day to open our own minds. Let empathy be a source of strength, not a sign of weakness.
What my friend understands, and what I wish more people would understand, is that racism isn’t some far off political issue. It isn’t just a claim that’s made when someone is trying to win a political fight.
It is impossible to think that George Floyd would still be dead if he were white. There are numerous black men who would still be alive if the police officers involved did not see them as hostile black suspects and instead worked to de-escalate the situation. Dylan Roof, the man who massacred black congregants in a church in South Carolina, was not killed by police. They brought him Burger King while he sat in custody.
To say that the racism in our society is not real, or that it’s just political, is foolish. We have to do better to understand that it exists, and we have to challenge the system and make it better in order to see change.
Where The Anger Is Coming From
Working for that change in society is most important. In order to make things better, we have to start with ourselves and our perspectives.
There is a common defense of police going too far in dealing with a black suspect: That if the black man had just complied more – had he been “the good darky” – he would still be alive. In fact, we just saw it recently with Ahmaud Arbery. Had he not been so suspicious, had he not been jogging so far from home, had he not walked onto a property in construction, had he not tried to defend himself when he was confronted by two men, he would not have been killed.
Thankfully, we as a whole are coming to realize that this isn’t the case. That we should not expect black men to simply be more compliant in the face of excessive force. There is near-universal consensus on both sides that the death of George Floyd is a horrifying example of police brutality and abuse of power.
It took a viral video and national media attention to get those police fired, and it took protests turned violent for arrests in George Floyd’s death to be made. That is unacceptable. That is why you have people who are so against the system that they are willing to storm police stations and burn down local businesses after looting them.
Does it justify the violence? Of course not. But it is difficult to deny that the anger is there.
For decades, black residents have been told that if they were just more compliant or respectful, that they wouldn’t be killed so frequently in altercations with the police. They have been told, indirectly, that because rates of crime and violence are so high in their communities that they practically deserve extra force, even if one person’s arrest is over a non-violent crime. Those broad strokes the community is so often painted with have forced them to live in fear of altercations with law enforcement.
The anger is understandable. This is more than just a few bad actors in this. Yes, the bad actors infiltrate and direct the masses toward chaos rather than protest, but the pent up anger over deaths like George Floyd’s happening over and over again make it much easier to prey on.
The violence is not okay, and on a rational level we all understand that. But on an emotional level, we need to understand why the anger that leads to it exists at all, and we have to do better to try and fix this.
Homestyle: Will You Meet Your Goals In 2020?
On this week’s episode of Homestyle, my co-host Leigh Guidry and I chat about our goals for 2020. These six months have felt like two decades, but we still have things we wanted to accomplish to make ourselves better.
What were your goals and dreams for this year? How hard have you worked on them?
If you want to hear more, you can always go back and listen to previous episodes, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast here, and if you have cooking, crafting, or family activity ideas, you can find us on Facebook and on Instagram (@Homestylepod).
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The Homestyle Podcast is a joint venture between myself and one of my best friends, education reporter Leigh Guidry. Throughout each episode, we discuss cooking, crafting, and other hobbies as well as how we make sure to spend time with our families despite how insanely busy life can be. The goal of the podcast has always been to take a moment to focus on what’s really important because, at the end of the day, family and life is more important than whatever distractions are going on in the world around us.
Recipe Of The Week: Overnight Beef Jerky
This is my grandmother’s recipe. She would make this the night before my grandfather, my dad, and uncles would go out hunting. It is a really easy but really effective way to make some beef jerky quick and snack on it (whether you’re going out hunting or just want a beefy snack).
Flank steak
Soy sauce
Lemon pepper
Garlic salt
Trim all the fat you see off the steak and cut into 1/4 inch thick strips lengthwise.
Marinate each piece in soy sauce for one hour.
Place strips of meat on a rack over a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the lemon pepper and garlic salt.
Bake at 150 degrees for 12 hours or overnight. Strips should come out chewy but not brittle. If they come out brittle, the oven was too hot.
NOTE: You can cook at 175 degrees for eight hours, according to a note that was added to my grandmother’s recipe card.
Final Thoughts…
America, we have to do better.
To start, love your neighbor.