Its hard to think of what to write about right now that doesn’t address the elephant in the room. The US, the country that I live in, is continuing to fracture across ideologies at a lightning pace.
I remember the Rodney King video in 1991 and watching it on TV. I was 15 years old and had grown up in the mountains of Colorado. I played ice hockey and we would travel to Denver most weekends during the season. This exposed me to the city, but mostly to the suburbs. Basically nothing really happened while I grew up.
Then the Rodney King video came out showing several Los Angeles police officers ruthlessly beat Mr King. News organizations around the world picked it up and broadcast it constantly. It seemed really hard to believe that Mr King was fighting back somehow, which was the defense of the officers. At 15 I knew it was wrong and that the officers needed to be held accountable for their actions.
Fast forward one year and the trial of the 4 officers charged had them all acquitted. Los Angeles blew up. For 6 days people reacted to the verdict with anger and violence. Many people died, the camera footage was graphic and constantly on TV.
Today I am watching hundreds of Rodney Kings and LA riots unfold at the same time. The police response across the country has varied from horrific to humanizing. I mentioned at work earlier that I am still in shock about it all.
I started searching for how to be a white person and fight racism. My thinking was that I can use logic and reason to become a better white person. The good news is that you don’t have to study too much. You just treat everyone with the respect that you expect from them. Regardless of their skin color, sexual orientation, education, employment, or choice of music.
Then we need to talk about this to everyone we know. I have friends and family that don’t treat everyone with respect. There are a myraid of reasons they think this way and I try to talk with them about it. Helping people see their prejudices is difficult but rewarding.
Also we need to vote, but politics is a whole other can of worms.
Workout detail
Finally got on the bike for the first time in many days. It felt good to ride up the road a bit. Once I was warmed up I came back and road the fence-line loop a few times. It still needs a lot of grooming but its a fun loop around the property. Kate and I also did the post dinner trail walk.
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