Please stop watering seeds of violence
Sending my deepest sympathies and shared sadness to the families and friends of the 8 human beings, 6 of whom were Asian-American women, who were recently massacred in Atlanta, GA by a white male who claimed to be “having a bad day.”
As a 36 year old free-thinking, openly-feeling woman of Sicilian heritage who has lived my entire life in the American South, I detest racism, misogyny, and am vehemently opposed to any forms of violence towards women. Sadly, the events that happened in Atlanta are not shocking, as the indoctrination of racism, misogyny, and violence continues to saturate this corner of the world.
I cannot speak to other regions, as I have not experienced life there, but to the culture of the American South, I would like to extend the following message:
— When we teach children non-acceptance of people who are different from us, we water seeds of violence.
— When we grab women by their private body parts when they don’t ask us to, and we don’t stand strongly against that, we water seeds of violence.
— Treating people with brown skin, brown hair, and brown eyes as if they are less-than or unworthy is watering seeds of violence.
— Teaching girls that the purpose of their existence is to stay home and not have a voice of authority, or that they are only capable of being “second in command” in the household, is watering seeds of oppression, which is violent.
— When we blame those who live in poverty instead of lifting them up, we water seeds of violence.
— Treating women as soulless objects with no inherent divinity is watering seeds of violence.
— When we do not reflect on the savage history of the place in which we are born and the cultural norms of that place, we water seeds of ignorance, which, as we can clearly see, leads to a continuation of violence.
— Calling other people derogatory names simply because they have a different heritage than we do, is watering seeds of violence.
While volcanoes, tornadoes, and lions do not have control over their nature, we humans do. That’s what makes us different. We have within us the power to make choices. Allowing violent history to repeat itself is our collective choice. We all have the power to change our thoughts at any time, so for the safety of human spirits and the safety of upcoming generations of children, please stop watering seeds of violence.
