Without empathy, democracy may die.
This will be controversial, but then again, isn’t everything these days?
For years, I’ve written about the importance of empathy in marketing. Guess what? It’s also critical in living.
The United States of America is in turmoil. The kindling has been piling up and drying for years. Freddie Gray, Sam DuBose, Philando Castile, Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling, Jamar Clark, Jeremy McDole, William Chapman II, Walter Scott, Eric Harris, Tamir Rice, Akai Gurley, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Breonna Taylor were all African-Americans killed by police. There are many more.
Some of the cases of those listed above received national media attention. And in many, justice was not served. Shouldn’t justice be colorblind–– white, black, brown, and those dressed in blue?
Afterward, outrage ensued… until it happened again. And again. And again.
Then there is civilian justice. You recall Trayvon Martin, armed with a bag of Skittles–– a dangerous threat to humanity. He was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a white citizen who feared a young black man in a hoodie. Because Zimmerman “stood his ground” and shot the kid dead, this killer went free.
Earlier this year, Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African-American man, was jogging in the wrong Brunswick, Georgia neighborhood. Two white men, Gregory McMichael, and his son Travis chased him in a pick-up because they suspected Aubrey of burglarizing a home. The truck hit the jogger, Travis got out and shot Arbery dead. The vigilantes were free men for over 74 days until a video of the shooting was released, showing the brutality of Arbery’s slaying.
Next, the world witnessed Amy Cooper use her phone as a weapon against Christian Cooper, an African-American man. Why? Because he requested that she obey park rules and put her dog on a leash. She told him to stop filming her, or she’d “call the cops and tell them there’s an African-American man threatening my life.” He encouraged her to do that and continued filming Amy on his phone as she called the cops and yelled that an African-American man was threatening the lives of her and her dog.
Amy Cooper’s white privilege was on display for all. She wanted to keep Christian Cooper on a short leash and prove that “an African-American man” is the nuclear option in law enforcement alerts.
This brings us to George Floyd–– a 46-year-old black man murdered in broad daylight on the street by someone paid “to protect and serve” Minneapolis residents. Policeman Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, assisted by three fellow cops who looked on or provided added ballast on Floyd’s body. The entire public execution captured on video. Chauvin didn’t care about being filmed. He kept choking a handcuffed man as he gasped his last words, “I can’t breathe.”
When the video was released, the shit finally hit the fan.
Angry protesters took to the streets in cities across America. The crowds were comprised of all ages and races, and they demanded justice. Some people took advantage of the mayhem looting and destroying property. The pent up rage of racial injustice was released. It was prime time for governmental leadership to unite people.
But, as Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms so eloquently told CNN, “America is a tinderbox, and Donald Trump’s tongue is a flame right now. Each time he opens his mouth, he throws another match on the fire.”
The president did just that when he announced, “I am mobilizing all available federal resources — civilian and military — to stop the rioting and looting.”
What unfolded next will be recounted by historians as one of the darkest days in American history. Federal forces used rubber bullets, chemical irritants, and flash-bang grenades to clear a crowd of peaceful, lawful protesters from Lafayette Park. Why? So the powerful authoritarian leader could cross the street, with leaders in his cabinet including Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the senior-most officer in the U.S. military dressed in camo. We were now at war against our citizens!
Why did the president cross the street? For a photo-op–– to get a picture of the mighty leader holding a Bible in front of a church.
That will be catnip for evangelicals this election season. Does anything matter to Donald J. Trump besides getting re-elected and maintaining power? Nope.
The Lafayette park scene was disturbing, disgusting, and reprehensible. The kind of thing one sees in countries ruled by dictators.
And now, we learn there is a “secret police force” working under the direction of Attorney General William Barr–– infiltrating “the troublemakers” daring to make the fearless leader look weak.
Can you say, “Gestapo?”
No wonder former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, retired four-star Marine Gen. Mike Allen, all condemned Trump’s fascist power play.
So, will we forgo our democracy and bow to the will of a would-be dictator? I won’t, and I hope anyone who loves our country doesn’t.
Remember, our troops swear to serve The Constitution, not the president. The president also swears on a Bible to serve The Constitution.
What’s the underpinning of all this turmoil? I believe it’s a lack of empathy. Donald Trump demonstrates narcissistic personality traits, showing no empathy or compassion for others. The result of his personality flaws is the shit storm our democracy faces today.
It is time our society finally faces and addresses our systemic racism and over-policing and incarceration of African-Americans. I know that sounds rich coming from this privileged white male, but I’m serious.
We must stop fighting and listen to each other. Hear African-American stories–– their personal experiences of what they go through daily, and empathize with what’s said.
Feel their pain, fear, anguish, anger, despair, bitterness, and hopelessness. And ask yourself if it’s justified.
Imagine how it feels to see whites waving confederate flags. Didn’t we already fight that war? Try and internalize the pain experienced by black people seeing statues of Civil War generals who committed treason fighting to ensure their ancestors remained the property of their masters. Ask yourself why so many people are trying to erase that history by saying the Civil War wasn’t about slavery.
It was. And still is. And the civil war is still being fought daily in this country.
Open your heart and feel what it’s like to be feared, judged, and discriminated against–– all because of the color of your skin.
Carry the weight of knowing that from 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States, 3,446 of them black people. Their crimes were as minor as being “uppity” or looking at white women the wrong way. Many of the lynchings were public events, a grotesque act of cruelty treated as family entertainment. Some lynchings even had postcards and mementos made–– death as a keepsake.
Imagine the pain of living under Jim Crow laws with strictly enforced segregation and hostility toward those brave people with the audacity to think they were equal. Remember, those laws were on the books until 1968.
Empathize with what it feels like to be a parent who must give their children “the talk” at a young age because they know how dangerous it is out there. They know that having black skin is carrying a target on your front and back. No wonder these parents worry for their loved ones every time they leave home.
Comprehend the agony of living in a society with a history of racism that runs through education, professional opportunities, pay, healthcare, voting rights, housing, criminal justice–– on and on and on.
This systemic racism is aimed at people who gave our society so much. Hell, their forefathers built this nation and its economy, literally.
African-Americans fought for their country, only to return home and re-discover the idea of freedom, and “all men are created equal” was a big fat lie. Because of the color of their skin.
Imagine enduring these insults to your very existence, after the incredible richness African-Americans have brought to our history, arts, music, culture, sports, entertainment, and lives.
And in return, they are given knees on their throats, or guns to their heads.
Over 56-years ago, Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. And a few days ago, we saw this memorial to the man who freed slaves guarded by a strong military presence. The kind of sight one sees in a dictatorship, not a democracy.
Why? Because MLK’s dream is still a dream.
Now ask yourself one simple question: Would you want to be black in America?
Let’s do something about this. Together, maybe we can finally make MLK’s dream a reality.
