Something magical happened last week. Something terrible happened last week. Something inspired us, disgusted us, and most importantly, got us talking. Last week came to define the beginning of a new country while also asking us to dig deeper to make this segmented country whole again.
The confluence of the SCOTUS ruling legalizing same sex marriage and the Charleston massacre that sparked a powder keg debate centered around Confederate flag symbolism not only created a busy news week, but also brought to the forefront a problem most of us intuitively have always known: We Are Divided.
Before you scoff at this notion, shake your head and dismiss it on face value, or are inspired to produce an exaggerated eye roll, understand that other nations are both in awe of our potential to be great while also confused that we focus more on pop culture than the biggest water crisis in U.S. history. Believe it or not, we had been living in an openly segregated society where an entire segment of our population was not allowed the same freedom as the rest. When future generations look back at this time they will ask, "Why did anyone care if same sex couples want to marry?" Your guess is as good as mine.
At this point, you may be asking yourself, "What is the connection between the Supreme Court ruling and Charleston?" or "Who is this guy to tell me what I should think, he's not on Fox News?!" Well, to use a crude analogy, if democracy is a car then debate is the fuel that makes it run, and ladies and gentleman, lately this car has been running on fumes. We can literally and figuratively not afford to keep our collective heads in the sand regarding pivotal social, fiscal, and environmental issues, hoping against hope that someone smarter, richer, or more qualified comes along to solve everything for us. Last time I checked, that train isn't coming in anytime soon and none of us are named John Galt.
The Charleston massacre reflects a persistent and ugly truth about racial tensions in our country that are either right below the skin of civilized society or masked as harmless humor.
Exhibit A: An unemployed, undereducated, Caucasian young man sat through a service at a predominantly black church before murdering nine black congregants for no reason other than an irrational fear of the black community. A community that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau only comprises 13.2% of our population. Defenders of the Stars and Bars may argue that the flag stands for Southern history and tradition, not anything sinister or oppressive. However they may have more success separating hydrogen from oxygen and still calling it water...which by the way we are still running out of.
Exhibit B: The fact that the gay and lesbian community is just now receiving the constitutional right to marriage is a bittersweet victory in that it took this long and has no adverse effect on any of us, except lining the pockets of thrilled event planners from sea to glittering sea. One may even postulate that opponents of same sex marriage have a similar irrational fear of a much smaller segment of the populace.
If I have been too vague thus far, you may have missed the connection here. It all boils down to trust and knowledge. We fear the unknown because it is not us, therefore it must not be good. We do not trust the unknown because we cannot empathize or understand, because we do not know. The sooner we begin to want to know and want to trust, we can take that important step to being the one nation we are supposed to be instead of the many separate countries we are now. If you are not angered by what you see on the news, what you see around you, and what you see next to you...maybe you should be.
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