Love God and love your neighbor

As a lot of people know, I am from the Chicago-land area, so I can’t comprehend the southerner’s take on Confederate flags and monuments.

(Before you continue, re-read the previous sentence twice if needed and then consider this is from a different point of view.)

I do know that growing up I was taught of the south’s rebellion that led to our Civil War.

It is great that some people want to remember something terrible from our past. I get it, southern pride.

But whenever I am in the presence of a confederate flag or statue that has become synonymous with slavery, I certainly don’t feel very welcome in that area. Maybe that’s the point.

I can’t comprehend why anyone would want to fly a flag associated with the spirit of the confederate south in their yard, especially when they have no ties to the south.

People have told me throughout my life that racism does not exist and I think that is because they haven’t seen it from a different point of view.

A few months ago I shared a story of myself being in the backwoods of Florida with a few friends only to find out those attending this bonfire didn’t like my race. Racism exists and sometimes you can see it in people’s eyes.

There is nothing more awkward than being around some flag or monument that reminds me that I am an ancestor of slaves or people that hated them to the point of murdering them.

I can’t imagine being my mother or father and seeing such statues after living through the last of the segregated years. They have seen decades of bigotry and still they grew up to respect and love all people.

I’ve lived on both sides of the spectrum – where I have seen whites having disdain for blacks and blacks having disdain for whites.

Having a superiority complex is wrong, especially if you are a Christ follower. Love God and love your neighbor.

We need to listen to each other’s point of view before jumping to conclusions or television driven stereotypes of people that might look a little bit different.

I’ve met great people of all races and some with really crummy attitudes but even those people are people.

Not every black person hates white people and not every white person is racist or a Neo-Nazi. In fact the bigoted amongst either is few and far between.

We need to stop letting these monuments define and divide us. Put them in a museum; maybe keep them out of the rain. WE are supposed to be the United States of America but instead we are letting these trophies or idols rule our thinking.