“It’s MINE!!!,” screamed the Stephen as he took the big red ball away from the Anne. Anne promptly burst into tears and went running to the teacher where she sobbed and stuttered trying to tell her version of the story. Stephen came running up a few steps behind yelling, “I had it first and she took it from me." Both children are full of righteous anger and primed to fight for their rights with no regard or thought for the other.
The teacher was now left to sort out the issue and deal with the children, not just with their refusal to share, but also with their behaviors after the fact.
You might think this is a story of two preschoolers, but perhaps not…
Recently, in Phoenix, a black city councilman was in a confrontation with a white police officer. The actual outcome of the situation is murky with blame to be assigned to both sides, but the interesting thing is the gigantic outpouring of anger from the black community in that area. Even if this single episode was not actually racially motivated, someone had better pay attention to the issue of community policing in that area because the response tells me there are much deeper issues there.
In the past months, we have seen a Health Care Bill signed into law by Democrats who completely bypassed any semblance to open and honest legislation, provoking some of the largest angry reactions that I have seen in politics during my lifetime. This gave a boost to the Tea Party movement that has been agitating for change in government.
Sometime later, Arizona Republicans signed a law into effect that some said could lead to racial profiling, leading to an enormous backlash by Hispanics and others.
Each of these events have something in common: the response was much more powerful than expected and in some cases, has yet to die down.
The response in each of these cases is due to the feeling of disenfranchisement by one group in response to the actions of another.
As a White man, it is easy to dismiss the situation that occurred with the City Councilman because he is black and ultimately had a large degree of fault in the events that transpired. But the event was merely a catalyst that opened the lid of simmering issues between the Black community and the Law Enforcement community.
Democrats are quick to dismiss the Tea Party movement as a bunch of crazies and racists, but the truth is, they are by and large ordinary people that are sick of the abuses of government and want to be heard.
Arizona Republicans and supporters of SB1070 and similar laws like to shut down the immigration argument with sound bites about ‘rule of law’ but fail to recognize the very real fears of many legal Hispanic immigrants and citizens as well as the complex issues of our historic immigration policies.
Whatever race we are, whatever political or religious affiliation, we must remember that there are people who hold different ideas than we do. Our actions as a majority may seem right to us, but may trample the rights of others or appear to do so.
If large numbers of people stand up in response, there just might be a problem that the majority doesn’t recognize or refuses to see. Dismissing our opponents and denigrating their values is not healthy or productive.
Democrat or Republican, White or Black, Legal or Illegal, Christian or Atheist, Tastes-great or Less-Filling, we all share this nation and we must work together and listen to each other.
In Kindergarten we learn to share, to respect each other, and to play nice.
It is the time to dial down the rhetoric and work to open avenues of communication.
It is the time for openness and truth.
It is the time for cooperation and compromise.
Let’s remember those lessons from Kindergarten…
It’s time to grow up and act like kids again.
Don't make me go tell the teacher.
