UNFRIEND ME IF...ya really want to.
I'm not gonna do it over anything said on fuckbook.
I know, racism isn't a simple difference of opinion. I also know people are freaking out on a global level for more than one reason and that's bad enough.
We all slip up and say/.do stupid shit. That's part of being alive. However, there's fear, ignorance and trauma responses and then there's being an intentional genitalia for the sake of who knows what reason. Attention? Cultivating an echo chamber (which I guess boils down to attention)? I don't pretend to know enough about the human psyche to understand why people say inflammatory things when they know people will get upset. Sure, I'll make wise cracks and sometimes they fall super flat but humor is my deflection. I've learned at least somewhat what punching up looks like too and I admit I'm still learning. Sometimes, you just have to let go, though.
What I absolutely am not saying is that people being upset right now is invalid. It also is completely understandable why some things people say upset others (upset is a mild word but I can't think of a better one). But I'm seeing people that have known each other for decades tear each other apart over shit people said on the internet. It is SHIT people say on the internet. We have the world at our fingertips. Unfortunately this means we can blather our thoughts without thinking things through at a moment's notice.
I am human. I admit that. I love all of my friends, especially those I've known for an incredibly long time. I value long friendships that have survived differences of opinions. I hate seeing people I know fight with each other when we should be fighting the bullshit that has gotten us to this point. Nothing is going to happen in an instant, though. This shit storm has been brewing for at least 200 years. No amount of protesting is going to change that overnight. But we're starting. We're coming together as a species to try and make it so everyone is treated with fairness and respect. Keep fighting for that. Always fight for that. Don't fight each other because if we are doing that, we aren't fighting the actual problems.
Black lives matter because all lives matter not because they matter more (and even if they did, feels pretty shitty to be dismissed as lesser because of something you can't control even in the slightest bit, doesn't it?) I'm not trying to be sanctimonious and get up on a high horse. I don't know everything and my perception is 100% limited to what I experience. In the grand scope of the universe, that is very little.
If you go because of this, or anything I say on this soapbox, I'll be sad but it would be unfair to call you out for how you cope. I won't be sad because you disagree with me, I'll be sad that you didn't come to me to discuss why.
None of us are perfect but that would be boring as fuck anyhow. Shine on, friends. Always remember, suffering sucks but it isn't an Olympic sport. Be kind and just listen to each other.
