No, forget it. I will not accept the Nobel Peace Prize. However, I will let you in on a BIG secret. I have figured out why there is such hatred and violence in our world today. We adults grew up! In other words, we just didn’t stay like innocent kids. Over the years, we develop prejudices from the older members of our families, friends and throughout the world. We hear stories about other people and just lose our trust in the goodness of people. Do Black Lives Matter? Do White Lives Matter? Do Blue Lives Matter? Of course, ALL LIVES MATTER! God made them all.
As you probably have guessed, I bring this to the forefront because of the horrific shootings in Dallas, Orlando, Milwaukee and other places, resulting in deaths and those wounded, which impacts scores, if not hundreds or thousands of lives. Yes, there are some bad African Americans, just like there are bad Caucasians and bad policemen. As soon as there is a shooting of white on black or black on white, a great many people become enraged. They find the one that lives guilty when knowing only a smattering of the details. The news media runs video after video of the killings, which serves to exacerbate the situation. Some political leaders and people making a good living by always being on the spot when there are tragedies to deliver a speech and “make hay while the sun shines” always appear.
THE ANSWER: Learn from our small children. Many kids don’t even realize the difference in skin color until preschool. That little buddy of mine is just my little buddy. Think about the songs our kids sing in Sunday school like “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” which says, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_xdkk_sXgA). Or, the song “God Made Me,” which says, “God made me. God made me. I’m so glad that God made me. God made my fingers, God made my toes, God made my knuckles and God made my nose. God made my hip bones and God made my chin and God made the shape that I am in.” (https://songselect.ccli.com/songs/518876/god-made-me). None of the words in these two songs refers to anybody being superior – not those that are black, white, yellow or purple!
I saw another poignant moment on television when a broadcaster interviewed two African American men. They both made good points during the discussion, but what struck me is at the end of the interview, the station showed photos of each of the men with his baby/toddler beside him, reinforcing the fact that they are human and fathers just like so many of us.
As I indicated, kids can play a major teaching role in our world. Anybody who is a football fan will remember one of the best commercials of all time that was made by Coca Cola in 1979. The game ends and an African American future Hall of Fame lineman, “Mean Joe Green” of the Pittsburgh Steelers, exits the field on his way to the locker room.
A synopsis of the conversation as Green is walking slowly through the tunnel to the locker room with a major limp, looking twice his age after the grueling game, as he passes a white boy with a Coca-Cola: “Mr. Green, Mr. Green, do you need any help? I just wanted you to know I think, I think [he stutters in awe] you’re the best ever. Want my Coke? It’s okay, you can have it. Really, you can have it.” At this point, Green answers, “Okay” as he takes the bottle of Coke and chugs it down. The boy turns around to leave, at which point Green says, “Hey kid, catch.” As Green throws him the jersey, the kid exclaims, “Wow! Thanks, Mean Joe.” (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Mean+Joe+Green+commercial&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IESR02&pc=EUPP_).
Another example of learning from a kid is after a Portugal versus French 2016 Euro Championship soccer game when the French lost the game and an adult French fan was crying about the outcome. A small boy, who is a Portugal fan, took the adult’s hands to console him. The French fan kissed the little boy on the top of his head. The boy patted him on the arm and then he received a hug from the man. The boy did not celebrate his team’s victory until the man was out of sight. (http://ktla.com/2016/07/11/viral-video-shows-portuguese-boy-consoling-french-soccer-fan-after-euro-2016-championship/).
Many of our problems exist because we don’t have any idea what the people are like that we may dislike because of our prejudice. Over the years, Barb and I have invited many people to our home whom we have never met before – whether they are from high school basketball teams from out of state many years ago; missionaries who are natives of Haiti, India or the United States; college students on short-term mission trips from Vermont; or Chinese scholars from Syracuse University. Yes, each invitation took planning and energy but we treasured each visit.
I’m hopeful that we, as well as you, can remember some of the above incidents in the future. It sure would be great to hold onto some of the innocence of kids the rest of our lives.
Jeff Hall, of Honey Brook, contributes columns to Berks-Mont Newspapers. Questions/comments may be directed to jeffreyhall77@comcast.net.
