We are in an age of redemption. Because of the technology of the day, a spotlight is being put on dangerous racists caught in the act of their terrible deeds. However, as these people are being exposed and collared for these misdeeds that could result in the death of the innocent, we are also seeing a quickness to forgive coming from the black victims. In doing so, some of these victims of racial targeting keep dropping the ball and are not thinking about the collective. This impulsive and ill-conceived quickness to forgive is standing in the way of justice and it needs to stop.
The entire nation has heard the story of Amy Cooper at this point. Cooper is the “Karen” who called the police on Christian Cooper, an African American bird watcher, of no relation and lied to the dispatcher that she was being assaulted by him. Before she called 911, she literally threatened him that she would lie and say an African American man was attacking her. She followed through on her threat dialing with one hand while strangling her dog with the other.
She called the police on him, knowing full well what could have happened to him, all because he correctly told her that her dog needed to be on a leash. Because Christian Cooper filmed the encounter, she became another exposed “Karen” that went viral receiving well-deserved backlash. However, after punitive action came into fruition, Christian Cooper had a change of heart and decided not to cooperate with the investigation. This is a very unwise mistake that keeps happening too often because people like Christian Cooper still do not understand the gravity of the situation or the bigger picture. Thinking of forgiveness as virtuous or that the villain has had enough is foolish. In the fight against racism, this weak passivity needs to be phased out. Christian Cooper and other forgiving victims of racism like him need to understand that he could’ve have died that very day. The matter is serious as life and death and it’s so pervasive because Karen’s believe that they can do this without consequence. Normalized stiff punishment for these types of actions needs to meted out to the fullest extent, not oafishly forgiven every time it makes the national stage.
The forgiveness train never ends. Years ago African American music executive Emmit Eclass Walker was very rudely judged and disrespected by an ignorant racist white woman who insisted he didn’t belong in first class and needed to let her pass in front of him. He posted the encounter and didn’t expect the story to go as viral as it did. Consequently, the woman was dragged all over social media. Sure enough, Walker quickly issued a public apology saying she didn’t deserve that. Only—yes, she did.
On another occasion, Rakeem Jones was sucker-punched by a white Trump supporter, James Franklin McGraw, at a Trump rally. Jones was not even there as a protestor or supporter. He was only there as a spectator, but his being black may have been what sparked the attack. McGraw was charged for the assault in March 2016 after online videos showed him sucker-punching Jones in the face as he went by. McGraw later said, “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.” Even though McGraw made it clear that he would kill him next time, Rakeem Jones decided to forgive and publicly hug him. Consequently, Jones’ forgiveness allowed McGraw to get off with a slap on the wrist. With McGraw, also known as “Quick Draw McGraw”, so emboldened as an older gentleman to take a swing at Jones, it’s safe to assume this wasn’t his first rodeo with a lifetime of other scrapes. Regardless, Rakeem Jones enthusiastically helped him escape justice.
Perhaps most memorable was the hug saw around the world. Botham Jean’s younger brother Brandt asked to hug his brother’s murderer. He hugged officer Amber Guyger who shot his brother in his own home claiming she thought it was her own apartment. That alone is hard to digest for some, but the black judge presiding over the case hugged Amber Guyger too, and gave her a Bible.
This inclination for so many black people to forgive in the face of racism is a mental illness. This can be traced back to slavery days. Everyone isn’t deserving of coddling compassion and sometimes punitive action needs to run its course so that much-needed precedents are set.
It’s true, none of us are perfect and there are sometimes good people who do bad things. Racists, however, are repugnant low-vibrational entities motivated by hate.
People often make the mistake of thinking everyone is the same, when we aren’t the same. People choose to believe that we all have the same moral code and that some people just needed to learn a lesson, and then it’s ok to call off the dogs. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are sociopathic and psychopathic racists living among us and they are very dangerous. They do not think the same or behave the same. And many of these people try to deliberately antagonize, harm and even kill their targets. And so, these soft forgiving types don’t understand what they’re forgiving and setting loose back into society unpunished.
We live in a country in which, once upon a time, people had picnics while black people were hanging from trees. So today or any day, these mentally diseased entities are not to be given an inch. Nor should they ever be allowed to feel comfortable amongst the civilized and well adjusted. There is a societal paradigm shift in which the entire world is awakening and growing sick of racism and racists. And when they show themselves for who they are, no they don’t need hugs.
The Christian Cooper’s of the world need stop trying to be nice guys and let the fullest extent of the law come down on these villains because of the principle. A message needs to be sent and made clear that it is a new day; siccing the police on black people for no reason will not be tolerated. We don’t let child rapists attack children, then hug and forgive them after they apologize. In the same manner, when someone threatens the life, liberty, or happiness of someone just because of their race, we should understand something is fundamentally wrong with that person and no, they don’t need sympathy. Psychotic people can cry and apologize on cue. And they most usually do so not because they are truly sorry, but because the heat is on, and they know how to look out for themselves. Unfortunately, many of these forgivers do not.
In the case of the bird watcher, if the police came and the matter ended badly, rest assured that Amy Cooper would’ve been protected with anonymity and the story would’ve moved on without her. With Christian Cooper gone, the media would have probably believed whatever Amy Cooper said happened, and the world would be discussing how Christian Cooper’s demeanor possibly caused his own death. She would have gone on with her day and her life free to do the same thing again anytime she felt like it. So, whatever happens to Amy Cooper as a result of her false accusation is nothing compared to what could have happened. At least she is able to live and think about herself as a person and make changes on herself if she so chooses.
Forgiveness is definitely a good thing for the soul, and it is beneficial not to hold on to things for too long. Letting go is very rewarding. However, the victims of racist actions should forgive and move on for themselves. There is no need to return hate, but let the culprits receive what they have coming to them. That is their own karma. We sometimes have to listen to racists cry and grovel about how their life is ruined after they’ve been exposed because many of them are psychotic, psychopathic and narcissistic. It’s all about them and how they feel, and still not about their disgusting disposition and mental state that enabled them to do what they did in the first place. Regardless, the world is waking up and leaving them behind. This is precisely why we should expect more racist eruptions to explode into the blogosphere. They think there is a world left to validate and normalize their racism. They are quickly finding out the good-natured higher vibrational people will no longer tolerate it or give it cover. The world is trying to heal and their extinction is part of that healing. So when the ax falls on people caught committing repugnant acts of injustice, its good to hold on to our own humanity and not become what they are…but let that ax fall.
Blog Comments
Be the first to comment