Oh my goodness, can you even stand the hate? I can’t. Does everyone understand that the founding of America was done “illegally” and that we took someone else’s land when we invaded? I suspect in some cases, those who flocked here also fled as refugees from an oppressive government or some other type of situation. It’s a very ironic argument that they make to keep others out, and a very sad commentary on us as people. I’m personally ashamed.
If you are rolling your eyes at me, please just click unfriend. I won’t judge you and maybe you will lift a burden from me because I can’t bear to unfriend some of you. I keep hoping that you are kind and loving in your heart and just reacting from fear. Ok – I misspoke that. I keep hoping that you will remember that you are acting from fear. Fear is at the root of hatred and the “us vs them” mentality. There is no us vs them. There is only US. Perhaps that was a good joke our founders played when they named us the United States (US). They were fairly wise dudes, so I suspect it wasn’t lost on them.
More irony…I went to a multi-year high school reunion on Saturday night for my alma mater, the Lee High Generals. It was so much fun and I’m glad I went. One of my classmates said something profound and very true, and that was I wish we had known each other better in high school. ME TOO! And that goes to most of the people I saw and hung out with on Saturday. I say most because the a few others I do know better, but I wish I had known you all better.
Do you know why I did not? Simply put, US vs THEM. Maybe they didn’t look right, or they were weird (I’m so weird – did y’all not know? LOL!), or they were in one sorority (yep, we had ’em) and I was in another. Or hell – I was a cheerleader and maybe they were on danceteam? Lived in the wrong neighborhood? You get the picture. Us vs them. And I am ashamed of that, but I am so glad that I woke up and am not that person anymore. I wish that for all of you. It is liberating and opens your heart.
I cannot express just how much I enjoyed seeing all of you on Saturday. It really was nice to see each and every one of you and hug your necks and have some laughs. Why we don’t do it more often is beyond me – we should.
I still love you if you are hateful and exclusionary, but I am going to be loving you from afar. They also weren’t joking when they said United we stand, divided we fall. Us vs them is a fallacy, one you’ve been sold to divide your attention and it stirs up endless, meaningless conflict. It’s time to embrace unity folks. We are citizens of Earth even if we are still divided by countries and the imaginary lines around them.
I’m going to leave you with The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus, the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. And I’m going to remind you all of my sweet Erin’s example. She did not see color, or religion, or how rich or poor you were. She saw people, and she loved them all (even the ones who treated her badly).
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
