Intersection of the Ice Bucket Challenge and Ferguson

I accepted the ice bucket challenge to help raise money and awareness for ALS.  I dumped icy cold water over my head and wrote a check I probably wouldn't have written otherwise.   My 12 year old son challenged me.

 On the same day I was challenged, another boy just six year older than mine, was laid to rest from another disease that plagues our country, so I am writing a second check.  This one is for the National Urban League.

Many Americans thought we entered into a new era of racial harmony when we elected an African American President, but that is obviously not the case.  I would bet money that if Barak Obama had not become President and was just an ordinary black man, he would have trouble hailing a cab.  I bet if he decided to go buy his wife a present in an upscale department store, he would be followed around by security guards.  I bet if he was driving through a predominantly white neighborhood, he would be pulled over.  I have seen all of these things happen to black men.  I am sure there is a myriad of other injustices they face on a daily basis that I cannot even fathom.

I don't think the police officer who shot Michael Brown woke up that day and thought, "I am going to kill an African American kid today." But I do think he had a much more negative opinion of African American teens than he did of their white counterparts. I also wouldn't be surprised if Michael was disrespectful. Why should he be respectful when he was so seldom shown respect, just as Eric Garner, just as Trayvon Martin and countless others whose names we never hear? This institutional racism is a disease that beats people down and all too often kills it's victims.

There are no easy answers here.  If there were, the disease would have already been eradicated.  So, I am sending some money to an organization that  will use it to help find a cure.  Our country desperately needs one and we all need to join the fight. So talk to your kids about what happened in Ferguson.  Talk to them about the history of racism.  Talk to them about how racism still permeates our culture. Point out to them how TV, movies, and video games all too often portray minorities as criminals who should be feared. Let them know this is wrong.

Not all popcorn bowl memories are good ones.  Sometimes they are sad and hard to face up to, but hopefully these are the memories that help to foster change.