You know there are a lot of wrongs to right in the world. There are a lot of people who need fairness and justice. We need equality.
I will not sit here and tell the stories that are already clear. What I do wish to add to our discussion is division. Equality does not mean erasure or forceful violation to achieve universal harmony.
The things that make us a great people are our differences. Our colors, shapes, identities, and very thoughts. Sometimes these clash and clash intensely. Books, movies, brands and even statues formed long ago can seem out of touch to us now.
This is fine. It is normal. We must look at such things with modern eyes. We must remove the pain they cause in our minds and hearts. But only there!
When you remove a book from library, tear down a statue, change a brand, or even censor a film you only become pat of what you protest against. We must hold on to and preserve the unpleasant and despicable. When we do not, we only ensure the future will repeat the past.
When you see a statue of a person who has done horrible things you should feel anger or rage and realize by example how far we have come. When you see a film or read a book from a different age when different thoughts were the norm, you are getting an insight to a different time. You have a comparison of progress and a remembrance of how things were.
In my eyes I want you to see a statue of a man who fought so hard for a slave nation so you remember what we overcame, not to honor him. I want you to go to a maintained concentration camp so you can envision the mass murder of millions. I want you to watch an old film and see the comical and side characterizations of minorities. Truth hurts. History hurts. Removing either only removes the pain and the rage. You are left with no reminders.
A world with no reminders is a world doomed to suffer time and again. Group after group. Person after person will suffer and die. Pain in our hearts and minds is a worthy sacrifice for the alternative.
The dangers of sterilizing division are to high. Creating equality by erasing, censoring, and legislating creates one people, one nation, one leader. Maybe we need to be reminded where this has lead us in the past.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/nazi_propaganda_gallery_03.shtml
Left or right, conservative or liberal the rebranding of a society can remove painful things but the question is should we? Should we erase those reminders? Should we lose touch with how far we have come, even if there is further to go.
For me I say we should keep them. We should hurt, mourn, and be angry at what has been done and leave with a sense of self and identity. We should feel history not just read about it. Only then does it become Human and tangible. Then it touches us.
I have written before about embracing the darkness in ourselves and acknowledging its place. We must sort such things and not bury them. Only through inspection and thought do we resolve. To do that the darkness must be there ready to examine. It won't be pleasant or kind. It may be a hell. But for those of us who have experienced the darkness turning on the light shrinks those horrible shadows and puts into place the crimes of men.
Equality only comes with respect. When we do not respect the past, even with its horrors and flaws we only bring forth that which has been buried. We have all walked enough in pain and darkness. Turn on the lights and look at that which has been done with clear eyes.
To me when I see one of those many things that remind us I stare back with dignity and say I survived you, I am still here, you were wrong, and now your monument is a testament to your cruelty not your brilliance. Let others look. Let others see. Tell your stories, share your heart. Then and only then are we equal.
Oh no I will not erase you. That would be to kind and foolish. Stand and be the what you were or are. You are your own testament.
In a world of confusion, narratives, and swirling dogmas the only truth is in our experiences and Humanity. Equality is innate. Division is good and bad. Erasure is the tool of revisionists. Never forget! Never surrender your experiences!
Love should always win over hate. Even when things test the limits of our hearts and make it break. We are not one people, one nation, or have one leader. We are are many in every shape, color, and variety. We celebrate our differences and thoughts. We freely exchange our thoughts and concerns.
We are Human, we love.
Love is Never Wrong!
