Forgiving Injustice

Segregation and a lack of civil rights DID exist in the 1960's. Folk singers sang of injustices. Songs known as "spirituals" spoke about a better day. The world stopped using slaves but it took decades before light people called dark people simply...people.

Some dark people haven't dismissed the injustices done to their people (and maybe them.) Songs from the 60's and memories of wrongs cause people to not only say "that wasn't fair" but to want light people to suffer for the injustice. The feeling I get is this thought my people suffered, now you suffer.

Having this mentality causes at least two problems: 1) anger, 2) the people who suffered aren't elevated to inspirations but victims. When a person feels anger toward someone else, the anger stops them from being their true self. They are so encapsulated by their anger that they push out love and every other good feeling. They become enraged by their anger as they allow it to fester. They get a bitter heart because they simply won't let go of injustice.

Injustice inevitably happens in a world full of imperfect people. We can either choose to be angry or forgiving. Forgiveness doesn't mean thinking of the injustice as right, but letting go of the anger held in the heart. I've had injustice done to me. Not segregation but the thing hurt me just as deep. I ended up letting it go because I didn't want to be an angry, bitter person.

Choosing Love over Hate

This morning, I heard an audio clip of the leader of the black panthers going on about how much he hates white people. He even called them crackers. It seems like freedom of speech is alive and well on the radio but if a child expresses their opinion in the classroom (also free speech) then it's slander if the teacher disagrees. Why is it OK for one person to speak their mind but not OK for someone else? One's opinion is never wrong - it's how they feel or what they think. To not allow certain opinions seems hypocritical to me.

As I heard the black panthers leader talk I thought give me a break, black people haven't been the only one's oppressed. I also thought just because a person has white skin, doesn't mean they're white. My dad had very dark skin. So much so that when he served in the Navy in the 1960's, when segregation still existed, an officer told him he couldn't use the white man's restroom because of the darkness of his skin. Segregation didn't exist only against the black person...but against anyone of color. I have white skin because I have some European heritage, but I also have some Hawaiian heritage. Am I a cracker just because my skin is more light than dark? Isn't judging me based on the color of my skin segregation? I find it ironic that a person who speaks against segregation seems to be doing that very thing.

I agree that oppression is wrong. I believe that no one should be forced to do anything. But I don't agree with being hateful because wrong things are done. We live in an imperfect world where inevitably wrong things happen. But we are free to choose how we will react. It comes down to whether we have hate or love in our hearts. The leader of the black panthers said hateful things. I could be hateful and bitter because injustices have been done to me and those I love, but I choose to be loving because that's the kind of character I want to have. My feelings get hurt but I'd rather forgive than hold a grudge.

I read somewhere that a person who holds on to anger is more susceptible to cancer. That makes sense to me because vile thoughts spread through the mind. Perhaps they also spread throughout the body and cause dis-ease when they are allowed to fester.