In Barcelona, Spain, and Charlottesville, Virginia, an ideologically driven man rams his car intentionally into a crowd of people, murdering and maiming.
One is instantly labeled a terrorist. Authorities promise to root out his terrorist cell.
The other is just a madman, acting alone. Sure, he shares an ideology with others like him, but only he is responsible for his actions, and only he will be punished. Rooting out white supremacist terrorist cells is like rooting out crabgrass. The roots branch off and intertwine with the foundation of this country. It’s hard to yank it out without pieces breaking off and starting new sprouts. So instead, maybe we can cover them with wildflowers, and fertilize them with love, so that their bright colors will become the next generation.
Maybe this is what Black Lives Matter leaders in Boston had in mind in organizing the Aug. 19 rally, which was in opposition to the white supremacist gathering permitted on the Boston Common. Black women and femmes coordinated this march, despite being asked by local law enforcement not to march. There were fears of violent clashes like those that had happened in Charlottesville.
But they did what they knew they needed to do, and look what happened — 40,000 of us peacefully filled the streets with our bodies and our hopes for a more just future. This seemed to be a turning of the tide.
White America needs to listen to leaders of movements such as Black Lives Matter. As the Movement for Black Lives states in its platform, “Black people have bravely and brilliantly been the driving force pushing the U.S. towards the ideals it articulates but has never achieved.”
It’s going to take some scuffing up of the soil to get the new seeds to take, but we shouldn’t be afraid to dig deep.
Ruthy Woodring
Northampton