Protests #1

Even as I sit in my sheltered, privileged semi-isolation it is hard to ignore the anger and frustration that has irrupted south of the border. For far too long it has been too easy for people like me to ignore the issues of privilege and class, pretending that because I do nothing to perpetuate the distinctions between those who have and those who don't - that I have no responsibility. Many people like me, who were not raised in an affluent community, who had to work hard to achieve any sort of financial security (however limited it might be) forget that we may not have been born into the moneyed class - but we have certainly benefitted from the opportunities that were made available. No matter how much energy I may have put into supporting those who were facing special challenges, no matter how many times I spoke out about a specific issue or preached to a community college class of students about the inequities of the system it was never enough.

 But I never knew what to do - I still don't.

I could have given every penny I have earned to some righteous cause, I could have walked in every protest march, I could have chained myself to every building where injustices were perpetuated and nothing would have changed. And of course, that is the great rationalization, the perpetual excuse - "the problem was too big for one person to change -there was no point in me trying".

 In spite of the sense of powerlessness and hopelessness, so we do try to make the small changes, we do speak up, we do try - but then we can go back to our reasonably safe, protected lives where no matter how hard things seem to us, no matter how hard we think we have to work to achieve anything meaningful the fact is that we know that success is possible.

Many of those who have been protesting in the last few days do not know that all things are possible. They have been taught the exact opposite. Nothing is possible, nothing will change, they will always be at the bottom and they need to always, if not afraid, at the very least be very apprehensive of what will happen to them. It is not surprising that the fear, the frustration and the anger is bubbling up to the surface. Given the fact that many of those who are protesting in the streets are the same people who have been most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic both in terms of loss of income and a disproportionate number of infected individuals - one can only wonder why the protests did not happen sooner.

 None of the above is to justify the small numbers of individuals who have used the protest to engage in the destruction of property, looting and other forms of community violence. None of the above is to justify how little I have done to eradicate the gross injustices that have created such anger and frustration.

 Somehow just knowing that does not help very much.

One of the saddest parts of this whole thing is that those who are protesting because they are tired, are sick to death of the constant and profound injustices that exist in the world they live in, are more likely to contract the virus. And some people from their safe, protected and isolated living rooms will say - "it serves them right".