George Floyd

It’s 1:59 A.M on Thursday 5/28/20.  My mind won’t let me sleep.  I can’t erase the events of 5/25/20 and the graphic video I saw last night.  I think I’m in shock.  Our Nation is hurting and hope feels evasive.  This is not how it should be.  George Floyd is a real person, a human being, a father, a coworker, a friend.  He is a child of God.  George Floyd died three days ago.  The inhumanity of his death is incomprehensible.  Shame befalls us and I don’t know how to reconcile it. 

I grew up in Canada and came to America with almost no knowledge of American black history (the slavery, the lynching, the civil war, the fight for equality).  I’ve been living in America for over 21 years and, sadly, remained in ignorance for most of them.  Due to racial reconciliation topics raised by our church, my husband, Joe, and I began educating ourselves in this area over the past couple of years.  We asked questions, watched movies and documentaries, read and learned…and our new-found knowledge has been devastating. 

Five years ago, we moved to Durham, NC and have made more African American friends than I’ve had in a lifetime.  Perhaps that was God’s plan.  He knew I wouldn’t achieve the correct level of understanding unless it was personal.  And it is personal.  My African American friends are afraid to leave their house.  They are telling their children to stay inside.  They are telling each other not to wear a hoodie on the streets.  Their pain has become my pain and it’s penetrating my soul.  My emotions are exploding and I’m crying out to God for answers.  Lord, please rescue us from ourselves! 

I do not understand white supremacy, how one person or race can elevate themselves above another person or race to the point of death.  How hatred can rule a life and the indescribable actions that come forth from it.  But this is more than white supremacy.  This is pure evil.  A complete disregard for the rights and dignity of another.  A coldness that is almost robotic.  Is there ANY feeling there?  White skin touched black skin.  Two hearts were beating, one with calmness and superiority and the other with fear and desperation.  Two bodies were breathing, one freely and effortlessly while the other fought for air.  One heart stopped beating, one body is no longer breathing.  The images are raw and vivid.  Please tell me it’s not so.  This is not how we were created. 

I know that You are good, God.  I know that You see the inhumanity and I know it’s not of You.  Please help us fight this evil that is before and around us.  Please help every human being declare IT’S ENOUGH!  Please help us create awareness.  Please help us make it personal.  Please help us to implement change that prevents this atrocity from happening in the future of our children.  Please help us God, we need You. 

If COVID-19 is a wake-up call, why are so many still sleeping? I want to ask you personally, are you awake? Or are you indifferent to the inhumanity described above? Please nation, please world…wake-up!  We all need to be a part of eliminating this devastating behavior! What will you do for your part?