I was listening to the news while traveling back from Louisiana. I heard something which saddened me. An African American woman and her seven year old son were shot in Baltimore. There were shot by someone of their own race and the person wasn’t a cop so it won’t make national headlines. This was a mother and her child though, Freddie Gray, was a guy who had 23 convictions at the time of his untimely death. So the convict becomes the hero and a wonderful mother who is out on a walk with her son gets forgotten? Seems kind of messed up.
On the way back home, I stopped at a gas station to get a snack and some Red Bull because my arthritis was acting up. That drink sometimes helps me when my bones are screaming in pain. It took forever and a day for the clerk to get to me. As I stood in line I was rehearsing the list of things I needed to do once I got home. I began to think that I may just go to bed and do the things tomorrow. The clerk was taking forever. I thought about just leaving and going to another gas station to buy my snacks. There were two men in front of me. Both of them were African American and I was sure that they had places to go also. I began fidgeting.
Finally the first man was taken care of and stepped aside. Then the most unusual thing happened. The second guy stepped aside and said, “Go ahead, Sweetheart.” I have been called Sweetheart by quite a few people but it didn’t make the impact that this man did on me. He was a complete stranger, I had not done anything for him at all and he was African American. My heart melted into a big puddle on the floor of that gas station but that wasn’t the end of my heart melting.
As I got into my car I saw the most adorable little African American boy sitting in a truck, peeking over the door. I could only see his eyes and cheeks. He was beyond cute. I smiled at him and he smiled at me. Then he waved and I waved at him, then blew him a kiss. He waved one more time and I waved back and drove away.
I got to thinking about all of the racial tension in this country. I don’t understand racism, never have. I can’t understand why someone would disrespect someone just because they are a different color. I also don’t understand why that mother and her seven year old son were murdered by someone who was their same race.
I know that something, somewhere needs to change. I started thinking. What if there was a program where cops could be a big brother or sister to someone of a different color? If a white cop became a big brother to a cute little boy peeking out the window of a pickup truck, the cop may think twice about pulling a gun on a grown up black man. The cop may be led to try and change the environment that his little black brother lives in and start to help his neighborhood rebuild.
When I think of that little adorable child sitting in that truck I realized that I was looking to him for cues. I smiled at him first and then searched his face until I saw the smile return. He waved first, then I waved back. I didn’t know if he had ever been blown a kiss but I did it anyway, kind of half-hearted, because I didn’t want to appear creepy. Then he waved again and I waved back.
I realized that something had changed within me. Due to all of the racial tension in America I was fearful of offending the little guy. A few years ago I would have waved first.
