The State of Hate
Since rehearsal last night I really started thinking about the state of hate. There is so much hate in this country it really gets to me. The show that I am in called the Laramie Project, it is a story about Mathew Sheppard who was beaten and eventually died of his injuries for being gay. I remember when this actually happened. I was saddened and outraged, as I have been with the Trayvon Martin. There are certain similarities in these cases. On a basic level they were both killed because they were different. The people killed them because they saw their differences as some kind of threat. Someone close to me said that the world needs hate and wars. I wanted not to agree with him, but because of my belief that there should be balance in all things, I do have to agree with him. Destruction is always a catalyst of change and awareness. Before Mathew was killed I went through life thinking that “gay bashing” was just words that categorized being picked on for being gay. Growing up fat I was always picked on for that so I could relate. But I couldn’t relate to being killed. I have never heard a story about a woman or man being killed because they were fat. The same goes for being black. I have some personal stories of racial profiling. However I can walk into a store and not be followed and I can pretty much go anywhere and no one will pay attention to me because I am a white woman, and seen by society as someone who is harmless. As the mother of a mixed child I made the choice that I wanted her to embrace all that she is. Most famous mixed people seem to have been told to identify as black, and I disagree with that, always have. I was joking with Nephera the other day and I said “you are such a white girl” and she said “No Mom I’m mixed.” I worry about how the people of the United States will see her. I say United States because the race issue here is what we are dealing with. I see Nephera as Nephera just as I see Tyler as Tyler, Prescott as Prescott, Mike as Mike, Nico as Nico, TT as TT, Sam as Sam, Julio as Julio, Elliott as Elliott, and Phat Mike as Phat Mike. Those listed are black, white, jewish, latino, gay, and straight. But “we the people” don’t seem to see it like that. How can we change this? How can we keep our children safe from people who hate what they don’t know and don’t understand? How can there ever be change when people in this country only believe what they see on TV? Or what they have been taught by a person who has never actually interacted with anyone who was different than they are?
The State of Hate is unfortunately alive and well…