Why America is Burning | George Floyd & Broken Promises
I can’t tell you the specifics of what led to him saying it. I don’t remember. I was in the ballpark of age 11. I must have not done chores or something. You know how chores are when you’re a kid—you mean to do them, but let any possible interruption be the reason you don’t get around to actually handling them. “I was gonna do them, but…”
One day, with disappointment and conviction in his voice after hearing me say that one too many times, my dad said the coldest shit he’d ever said to me up till that moment:
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Who says that to an 11-year-old?!? So many thoughts collided inside my young mind—the first, of course, being, “Did he say I’m going to hell?” But my dad is really good at letting a line like that linger for just the right amount of time, then helping you pick up the knowledge he dropped. It’s not enough to talk big and make promises, he explained. It’s only by following through that you help others and get to where you ultimately want to be.
As I watched parts of almost every major United States city burn on the news over the last few days, I thought about that line a lot. America looks like Hell.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident,” The Declaration of Independence says, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Lies. This last week is what happens when people are lied to too much. Flames. Tears. Anger.
This week is all about new promises and commitments. Press releases and statements are flying out. There are too many to keep up with. “We stand in solidarity with the Black community…” says our favorite brands. “I’ve had enough,” your favorite people say. Really? You believe Black Lives Matter? Show me. This is a time for action. Use it to think, commit, and then DO.
I hope everyone follows through. I hope companies hire Black (because we’re just as good). I hope people buy Black. I hope people donate Black. I hope people acquire empathy and soften their hearts. I hope we unite. I hope justice isn’t something we have to beg for forever. I hope there’s judicial reform. I hope that the architects and foremen of the structural racism we suffer from are fired and/or jailed.
America needs to gut renovate this joint. It’s ugly in here. It looks like Hell.