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An open letter to all citizens of the United States who feel things like removing statues and changing city and street names and #reparations and #BLM are ridiculous and unnecessary.
You may feel that we are far enough removed from the original timeline, but consider this:
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You may feel that we are far enough removed from the original timeline, but consider this:
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For over 500 years, white colonizers built this country from the ground up by destroying not only the people who already lived here, but also by exploiting the lives of generations of blacks, indigenous people, Asians, and the poor.
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We (and I say "we" because, as a citizen, I must include myself and my history in this) have destroyed the land, and brutalized, tortured, and murdered millions of people, all in the name of "Patriotism"
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We have ignored the cries of countless children, massacred families, and have allowed fear, hatred, bigotry, hunger, poverty, and violence to run rampant, all in the name of "Freedom".
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It has not stopped. Not once. No matter what you choose to believe, every single one of these things is alive and thriving across this country every single day.
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Yet, you ignore it because it doesn't affect you. You shout down those who would fight against it with their dying breath. You call them names and belittle them because it makes YOU uncomfortable. Because YOU want to believe it doesn't matter.
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No matter what you tell yourself, we are NOT "far removed" from any of this. It has been going on for 500 years and yet you ignore the fact that YOU have the power to stop it in its tracks.
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If we want this country to truly be great and move forward in true peace and prosperity and equality, then you have a responsibility to not only acknowledge our history as a country, but to embrace that we are all implicit by virtue of our citizenship.
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We must all learn the true history of our country, not just what they teach in schools. Learn the reality of things like mass sterilization of Native American Women, read detailed stories about lynchings, discuss the role of the Chinese in building our railroads.
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Get knee-deep in the ugly history of this country, ESPECIALLY the things that make you uncomfortable and the things you don't agree with. THIS is how we become a great country.
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WE destroyed this wonderful place and put something dark and hideous and crawling in its spot and we have got to confront that before we can even hope to move on. Ignoring this will only make it grow stronger.
#Education #Compassion #Communication #Humility
#Education #Compassion #Communication #Humility
