I recently read in an article about a young girl in St Joseph, MO that respectfully asked a visitor why they would think that it was ok to wear a MAGA hat. She is of Muslim faith and a black woman. I would love to dream of a day when these labels are loved and celebrated but, unfortunately, today is not that day.
After, asking the 17 year old to remove the cap, he did. It wasn’t until an ‘older gentleman’ told the boy to put it back on that the visitor realized that he has this privilege to wear such a cap. A red cap with the words Make America Great Again is simply a piece of marketing material. If you know anything about marketing it has replaced the ways of artists. It should provoke emotion out of you both negatively and positively. Emotionally, the red hat represents something like a confederate flag. It would take ignorance to not be sensitive for what that flag has come to represent.
The woman just lost brothers and sisters in Christchurch, NZ and the wounds are still fresh for her. I would imagine this would bring a sense of panic to anyone. The Muslim faith feels this loss of their brothers and sisters. The victims were targeted while the shooter was wearing a MAGA hat. That is something that everyone should, at the very least, be sensitive to if not sympathetic.
We have moved into an area where people can’t express their feelings without being categorized as ‘too sensitive’. It is my opinion that the older man had the opportunity to allow the visitor to have a learning moment, but instead tried to interject his own beliefs. The visitor, at the age of 17, cannot vote. What business does he have wearing a MAGA hat in the first place? The female student was respectful until after the older gentleman interrupted their potentially beautiful moment.
Looking through social media, people want to read the negative comments like fuel on a fire rather than being sensitive to a loss. How did we come to this? A man that is divisive and could care less what happens to America after he leaves office. Regardless of your political views, we are in for some dark times after President 45 leaves. He’ll start building his Trump Tower in Moscow and the rest will be history.
So, if you feel like tackling an issue, let’s try compassion and kindness. The entire word could use a little more of that. The woman could have kept silent and let ignorance exist among her but she shouldn’t have to. We are too evolved to let that happen. Our older generation should get used to change and surrender to the fact that after they all die, the world is in our hands to gently give to the next generation. The selective acknowledgement way of thinking reminds me of times I have read about during segregation. People knew that segregation was wrong but very few spoke up about the injustice that it was. Do we go back to a time where we put our habits back on to shield us from the wrong in the world but peek to see when the drama is really good. It’s all too disgusting.
I guess I have evolved to a space where I don’t see why we can’t just look at all humans as the same. We all have a short amount of time to live on this Earth. Why do we have to fill it with divisions and hate. It makes no sense. Having lots of money doesn’t make you entitled to make this world your own. In the end, no one owns this Earth. Let’s try to be compassionate towards our fellow human beings because you never know when that person just might be the person that you need the most.