unloading my mind a little bit

so, i have been wanting to write a little bit about a sensitive topic for awhile now, i've got some stuff on my mind grapes (points for you if you caught the 30 rock reference).  i just didn't have the time until now.  and i like to marinate on heavy issues for awhile to get a sense of how i feel about it all before i write.  i'm sure you all have read so many news articles and blog posts and all that about the unfortunate events surrounding ferguson, michael brown, and other recent similar situations.  i have been wanting to write about ferguson for awhile.  but, after the decision about the eric garner case, i couldn't hold it in anymore.  the day that the courts decided not to indict the police officer who choked eric garner to death, i couldn't have been more shocked.  i just felt so so sad.  i read the verdict while i was in class, and i couldn't concentrate the rest of the afternoon, that evening i was quiet and mournful.  hubs and i talked about it a bit and were both just very sad.  i did happen to see the footage, finally, and it made me sick to my stomach.  i honestly could not understand how the officers could just continue to choke him, it appeared that he wasn't even resisting.  ugh, it makes me sick.  i read article after article about people's opinions and feelings on eric garner, and ferguson, and michael brown, and all the others.  it seems that more and more people are becoming aware of what african americans have been dealing with forever, and are speaking out about it.  i don't know what direction this post will go, i don't even know what to say sometimes about this.  but there are a few things that i have been ruminating about lately.  first, is the appalling and ignorant view that some people have, that racism is something that our country/society went through at an earlier point in history, but that it's not something that is going on currently.  i get so angry when i hear this.  especially from a white person.  why, yes, middle class/affluent white person, please enlighten me on how there is no racism, or white privilege in our country, because surely you must know.  i see politicians, pundits, news anchors, talk show hosts, etc blathering on about this and it disgusts me. just because you don't experience inequality, racism, prejudices, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, or even if you do witness it, you don't recognize it.  because you likely have NEVER had to deal with it.  it happens all the time, everyday.  there is footage of it.  there are anecdotes.  personal accounts.  news stories.  articles.  books.  journal articles.  sermons.  songs.  movies.  i could go on.  INEQUALITY IS REAL.  it doesn't matter that the facts of the cases are debated, or that the victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time (with the wrong skin color), or that police officers are already keyed up and on the offense because of what they signed up to deal with, or that crime rates are higher in 'minority' areas, or whatever other excuses, justifications and explanations there are.  it doesn't matter.  this is simply not right.  what makes me sad is that there is even a doubt in people's minds that this is a 'race' issue.  or that they are not outraged on behalf of the victims, just based on the fact that they are a human being.  if this was your father, your brother, your friend, that got choked to death for no apparent reason other than selling loose cigarettes on the street, wouldn't you be outraged?  this MAN was killed.  and for what?  same with michael brown.  this young UNARMED man was shot 6 times, shot to death.  would there be so many excuses and justifications if the kid was white?  would it be the same if this was your son?  or tamir rice.  the list goes on.  these are human beings with God given souls.  how could people not be affected by this?  the other thing i have been thinking about lately is how freaked out people are to talk about these kinds of issues.  i feel like a lot of people go on the defensive, immediately.  or just altogether dismiss it as just another race thing.  or, sadly, even get aggressive and start calling other people racists.  really?  you can't just have a conversation?  you can't think about something from another human being's point of view?  you can't accept that life is different for other people, the foundation and structure of which is entirely out of their control?  so what is my main point here?  why am i writing about this?  i don't know, mainly just to get it out in words somewhere in an effort to help myself sort through all this.  i still just feel really sad and angry.  but seeing so many people talking about this and blogging about it, and especially after the eric garner case decision.  it makes me feel hopeful.  that perhaps, people are starting to see.  and are feeling the injustice and want to do something.  what can we do?  talk about it, don't let the excitement of it, the newsworthyness of it go away.  challenge people if they try to brush it off.  educate people about the reality of the inequalities.  i guess that's a start.  i know that nothing will change until people's hearts change.  they have to feel it.  we have to understand that 'race' and other such differences are an illusion.  we are all one human family.  we are the same.  biologically and spiritually.  we need to realize that diversity is a source of strength and not a cause of contention.  tolerance isn't enough.  we need to do better than to simply tolerate those that appear to be different in one way or another to ourselves.  for those who aren't religious and so don't believe or care that we are all the same spiritually, that we all have God given souls, then understand this; the oneness of humanity is fully endorsed by the sciences.   think about it, research it.  this post is addressed to no one in particular, just, in my head, to the people that i see on tv or whose articles i read that suggest that white privilege isn't real and that racism no longer exists in this country.  again, this is kind of a random post, just for me to get some stuff out of my head.  maybe i will follow up with a more organized post, after i read some of the Bahai writings, which usually helps me to reconcile, organize and sort out in my head these kinds of intense situations.  i just feel so much grief for the families of these men, and their communities and imagine how much they are hurting.  the unfairness of it all just gets me down.  there has got to be some progress here.  ok.  i think i'll end this post now.  i will do my best to follow this up with another post that has some good quotes and hopefully something a little uplifting.  oh, if you want to comment, then please do so.  let me know how you feel about the situation and in what you think we can do to make any kind of progress.  i really only want to hear about moving forward and making things better, i don't want to debate aspects of each case or the behavior of the rioters or anything like that.  that's not my focus right now in regards to this issue.  ok then.  thanks.