A Burden That is Not My Own

We face a litany of uncomfortable issues in this country. Issues that are not being properly discussed due to a failure of leadership. Issues that are not being dealt with because of selective outrage. The problem with these moral failures is that it wastes emotional capital and delegitimizes the very conversations that need to be had. It turns moral conversations into political arguments and allows the loudest voices in the room to steal the spotlight.

We need honest consistency more than opportunism. We need hard truths instead of expedient lies. We need the kind of political courage that led John McCain to correct a supporter under the impression that Barack Obama was a Muslim. We need the kind of leadership that led our first black president to speak of our "Amazing Grace " after the horrific shootings in Charleston.

These are not just political debates, they are matters of faith and morality. What kind of Christian stays silent in the face of inequality and hate? What God answers the prayers of those that ignore his commandment to "[l]ove each other. Just as I have loved you."

Too many people are in denial about the problems that exist in this country. Rather than face an uncomfortable truth, many on the right would rather lob rhetorical bombs crouched in oversimplifications. That does everyone a disservice. We live in complicated times. There are no easy solutions or silver bullets to vanquish racism and structural inequality. Let's not pretend like there are. There are lessons that this country has yet to learn. That should come as no surprise though, to learn a lesson you first have to acknowledge a problem exists.

Equating groups like Black Lives Matter with groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis isn't just irresponsible and dangerous, it's immoral. Think about how mean spirited and callous you have to be to hear black Americans begging the country to see them as equal, only to be equated with the group synonymous with their murders. I refuse to believe we're that far gone. Despite what you may have heard, all the members of Black Lives Matter actually want is to be treated like everyone else, equal. That's a far cry from the desires of white supremacists who by definition preach inequality and refer to black and brown people as "animals."

The answer isn't to blame minorities for a problem that we didn't create, it's to take responsibility for the ugly history perpetrated by the grandfathers of the Republican Party . The answer isn't to make false equivalence and sanitize the irrational, the answer is to tell the truth about how we got here so that we can have an uncomfortable conversation about the path forward.

That path forward starts with removing monuments and memorabilia honoring members of the Confederacy. The Confederacy belongs in history books, not waiving in state capitals and on display in public parks. This shouldn't even be a contentious issue, even Robert E. Lee believed that monuments to the Confederacy were divisive and inappropriate . In no other country could an invading military's flag be a source of pride and honor. You don't see the Nazi flag flying in Germany, so why would it be okay to fly the stars and bars in America? It's simple, it's not.

The older I get, the more I realize that all opinions are not created equally. Opinions exist on a spectrum. On one end lies stupidity and on the other end lies absolute truths. Our goal should be to find a middle ground, but on some topics, there can be no middle ground. The notion that there can be is partly my fault. I have repeatedly tried to reach out to the right. I have repeatedly tried to show white America that the caricature being portrayed on right-wing news networks has no basis in reality. I have repeatedly taken on a burden that is not my own.

It's no more up to black America to make white America comfortable with racism than it is for Native Americans to make sure white America is enjoying their stay. The burden should never be on the oppressed to comfort those in a position of privilege.

Republicans aren't the victims in the racial conundrum we now find ourselves, they are the accomplices. Republicans created a climate that has made Donald Trump possible. Republicans fed the beast until it could no longer be tamed. Now it's up to Republicans to find their inner courage and deal with the litany of uncomfortable issues we currently face. Failure is not an acceptable option.